


The Consequences of Curiosity (Really Just Another Sans X Reader)

by TheNightWaffle



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dirty Jokes, F/F, F/M, Named Reader, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Slow Burn, Soulmates, Teasing, first person POV, im sorry my puns are shit, implied smut maybe, like at all, lotsa fluff, maybe a little bit of angst, probably no smut, reader is assertive, undertale is a game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-01-23 04:45:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 54,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18542536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightWaffle/pseuds/TheNightWaffle
Summary: Aren't descriptions supposed to summarize your story or some shit? Well this isn't fucking done so I guess I can't write a proper description, now can I? I suppose I can try anyway???So this Yin chick, right? She lives basically at the foot of a mountain. Is it Mount Ebott? I don't fucking know yet, so that's for you to find out I guess. Oh right. So this Yin chick climbs the mountain one night to see this meteor shower she's been all excited for and then SUDDENLY WOAH MONSTERS WOW HOW WEIRD AND RANDOM. Wow I hate this!It's like, 75% not shit, so take that as you will. Read it or not, I don't fucking care. Am I allowed to swear in the description? Guess I'll find out, now won't I?





	1. Yin: So Much For Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> Words in italics are thoughts.

_Shit._

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

_I'm gonna be fucking late._

   I quietly cursed at my stupidity as I raced down the street with wet hair leaving a cold, damp spot on the checkered scarf I had wrapped around my neck. The few people that were out and about glanced at me as I ran past, but paid me no other attention as I desperately passed storefront after storefront in a feeble attempt to make it to my destination on time.

   That morning I had completely lost track of time while showering and found that I had ten minutes to be ready to work in the small fifties themed diner nearly a mile away from my home. Quickly choosing employment over breakfast, I threw on my clothes and sprinted out into the brisk autumn air.

   I frantically checked my phone one more time before pushing myself to go even faster.

   Three more minutes, I can do this.

   The thought fueled me in my quest to defy time and space, and to my absolute joy, I burst into the front door of the diner without a second to spare.

   Relief flooded my body and I felt all my earlier determination dissipate as I doubled over in a heaving mess. I saw a pair of pristine black and white oxfords approach me and stand a few feet away as their owner waited impatiently for me to begin breathing normally again.

   "Not... late..." I panted.

   Immediately, a clear laugh rang from the lips of the person standing in front of me,

   "Barely! Jesus Yin, did you sprint all the way here or something? You look like shit." She informed me, clearly amused.

   I let out a breathy laugh and found myself able to stand and meet the green eyes of the woman in front of me. She sported a light blue dress cinched at the waist by a white apron. Placed upon her blonde wavy hair that hung loosely at her shoulders was a stereotypical waitress hat that seemed to sit impossibly still atop her head.

   "I did, actually. Nice to see you too, Jules." I replied wholeheartedly.

   Julie wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to the back of the diner where the uniforms were kept.

   "Well good thing we change into our uniforms here and not at home then, huh?" She chuckled.

   I nodded, grateful about that detail as I would have surely left my uniform at home in my frantic dash to beat the clock.

   "Get dressed, hun. We open in a few minutes and you're out there with me taking orders today."

   I hummed in agreement and Julie left me to get dressed. Like her, I put on the cheesy costume- which is actually more comfortable than you'd expect. I pulled my hair into a messy bun at the base of my neck and followed my friend out into the main area of the diner. 

   It was a relatively slow day and I managed to stay pretty content until I heard some chick's ringtone go off. Spider Dance. I immediately recognized the tune and tried my absolute hardest not to outwardly cringe as memories of my past bubbled to the surface. The lyrics to the song I once held dear found themselves at the tip of my tongue and I huffed at myself for even wanting to sing them.

   Other than that the day was pretty standard. Smile, get orders, bring food, repeat. Simple.

   Later that day, my shift ended. After throwing my coat and scarf on and waving goodbye to Julie, I started out the door. As usual, she took one glance at me and an amused smile spread across her face. She said nothing though and let me leave. Shrugging, I thought nothing of it and walked home. About five minutes in I realized why Julie had looked at me like I just told a joke. I was still wearing my uniform. Well, the dress part of it anyway. Rolling my eyes, I vetoed the thought of going back now.

_I'll just wash it when I get home and wear it to work tomorrow. Say I spilled syrup on it or something._

   Regardless, I walked home faster than before, now worried about losing feeling in my legs from walking in a dress. I'm a drama queen, I know.

   I approached the two-story house that was gifted to me for my twenty-first birthday from my aunt. "Dottie Minerva, a rising talent in the music industry." She found her fame quickly and wasted no time in spreading the wealth to her family. Hell, one of the first big things she did was support Ma through teacher's college. I was grateful she didn't act completely stuck up because of her fame as many other celebrities do. Deciding that she'd rather I live somewhere close to a family member when Ma got a job across seas, she moved me out of the apartment I had lived in and into a literal house on the hill. I tried to tell her that I could just move into something smaller and pay for it myself, but she waved me off and told me I would need the extra room when I "finally find a nice man and make some cute little great nieces and nephews".

   I rushed to unlock the front door and stepped inside with genuinely as little grace as possible. And by that, I mean I opened the door and promptly landed on the floor as I had tripped over my own feet. Groaning and closing the door with my heel, I let the warm air wash over me and stood up.

   Shrugging my coat and scarf, I walked to my room and changed into a warmer outfit more suitable for hiking. That night a meteor shower was set to occur and I had been planning to climb up to my spot and watch it for weeks.

   I grabbed my backpack that contained a few blankets and sprinted down to the kitchen to make sandwiches and hot cocoa for the night. The sun was setting by the time I was ready to walk out the door.

_Ah, shit wait. Need to do a double check._

   I opened my bag and looked over its contents.

_Alright. Blankets? Check. Sandwiches? Yes. Cocoa in a thermos? You bet. Flashlight? Mmmhm. Pocket knife? Just in case. Last but not least, my phone. Fuck can't forget that. Gah! Keys too! I need those._

   I rushed to the counter and grabbed my phone and keys before walking out of the house and locking the door. Backpack slung over my shoulder, I felt ready to take on the world.

   When I arrived at my spot further up the hill you could just barely see an orange glow on the horizon. I grabbed one of the blankets and laid it down for me to sit on. After getting situated I relaxed into the blanket wrapped around my shoulders and pulled out one of my sandwiches as I watched the sky change from dusk to dark. I hummed contently as I took a bite.

   Ten minutes later I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me. All hairs stood on end as I reached into my bag and grabbed my pocket knife and flashlight, deciding it would be better to face the potential threat head-on rather than let it sneak up behind me, I stood up and, with the flashlight aimed at where the sound came from, slowly walked forward.

_This is literally exactly what the first chick to get killed in a horror movie would do. What are you doing?_

   Ignoring my logical thoughts, I called out,

   "It's not nice to sneak up on someone you know." No response, "I can guarantee I'm more afraid of you than you are of me, so you don't have to be scared." Again silence.

   I relaxed my stance, feeling silly.

   "Heh, I was probably just talking to a rabbit or something." I giggled and turned around to get comfortable again, but the rustling started happening again. This time when I turned around, it didn't stop until I saw what was causing the noise.

   Out stepped a young child dressed in shorts and a blue and purple striped sweater. They had bandages on their legs and cheek and short brown hair. They flashed me a wide smile and I could see they were missing a tooth.

_I am so confused. Is this some kinda cosplayer?_

   "Um... hi?" I greeted, pocketing the knife.

   "Hi! I'm Frisk!" They waved enthusiastically.

   "I can see that. Um, two questions. Where are your parents, and why are you dressed in cosplay on a mountain at night?"

   They ignored my question and let their eyes drift to my mess of blankets. I followed their gaze.

   "I... okay. Do you want some hot cocoa?"

   They nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down. I gestured to my spot,

   "Take a seat then I guess. And put that blanket on, you're gonna freeze in those shorts." I instructed.

   They ran past me and sat on the heap. I sighed and placed the flashlight on the ground so that it faced up, hoping to create a beacon for whoever the kid was with.

   I sat down beside 'Frisk' and handed her the thermos with the hot cocoa in it.

   "Be careful, it might still be pretty hot."

   They nodded and followed my instructions.

   "So, 'Frisk', my name is Yin, what's yours?" I asked, determined to get this kid home.

   They gave me a weird look,

   "Frisk."

   I furrowed my eyebrows. They seemed serious.

   "Frisk it is. Okay then what are you doing out here alone?"

   Before they could answer, a group of someones yelled from the direction they came from,

   "Frisk! Where are you?" A feminine voice rang out. I got up and waved the flashlight around.

   "They're over here!" I responded. The loud murmuring got closer.

   "LOOK! THE HUMAN MUST BE OVER WHERE THAT MYSTERIOUS LIGHT IS MOVING AROUND!"

_The human? WHat the FUCK does that mean?_

   I stood between Frisk and the group coming closer.

   Just then, a large woman in a purple dress burst through the bushes.

   "Goat mom!" Exclaimed a voice behind me as they ran around me towards the group that was appearing one by one.

   I was too shocked to move aside from slowly lowering the arm that had the flashlight.

_Holy fucking shit._


	2. Sans: Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's meet our babe Sans, shall we?

This was weird.

"What's up, kiddo?"

After beating that stupid final boss thing as usual, Frisk pulled me aside with a weirdly dour look on her face- which was not usual. The small change in routine threw me in an almost shell shocked state that allowed her to pull me away from my celebrating friends and family. I would be celebrating myself had I not lived through the ecstasy of almost escaping this hole many times before.

Frisk suddenly stopped and looked around the room silently for a few moments as if she was trying to take in every detail as to not forget that moment. I resisted the urge to grit my teeth.

_What a cruel joke. Like you're not going to just reset to play through your game again and again._

She turned to me and at that moment, she looked like she had lived a thousand lifetimes. I suppose we all have. Some of us just remember them better. Small tears pricked at the corner of her eyes despite the sad smile she had plastered across her cheeks.

"This is it," she told me with a sense of finality I didn't know an eight-year-old could have. Regardless, I nodded sarcastically.

"Sure is."

Regardless of whether she ignored the edge to my voice, or just didn't hear it, she turned away from me and back towards the ecstatic group of monsters,

"I'm sorry for taking this from all of you for so long and I can't wait to show you the sun, but I'm really gonna miss this place," her smile grew as a few tears fell down her face.

_The sun?_

"What are you talking about, kid? We both know you're just gonna reset and do it all over again. Why the waterworks?"

I felt a pang of hope in my soul, something I hadn't felt in a long time. Before I could latch onto that sliver of a chance, I pushed the thought down as best as I could. It's better to be numb through a reoccurring hell than to feel every minute of it. I must have been glaring because the kid visibly shrunk back.

_Oops. Welp, that's where existentialism gets you._

"No, I won't. Not this time," she declared.

There's that stupid pang again. Stronger. It dug into the very fibres of my being and burrowed its way through me. Once again, I pushed away the sliver of hope.

_Could this nightmare really be over? Heh. Not a chance._

I rolled my eyelights and focused back on Frisk.

"Lying isn't nice, you know," I kept my regular fake smile spread across my skull, but on the inside I was angry. Angry at Frisk for playing with my and my friends' lives and feelings. Angry at the universe for making me the only one that seems to remember the resets. And angry at myself for being so weak and wanting to break down at the very thought of getting out of this hellhole.

Oddly enough, Frisk only smiled and shook her head sadly,

"Let's go see the sky, Dunkle Sans." The sincerity in her voice made me pause for a second. Apparently, a second too long because I felt a familiar sting in my eye sockets as tears welled up in them. I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed, quickly regaining my cold exterior,

"Sure, kiddo."

_It's not like I haven't seen the worst of what could happen._

She quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the group where it seemed celebrations have stopped. Asgore was discussing something feverishly with a few of the highest ranking royal guards, including Undyne.

"Please, sir, don't go alone," One bunny guard pleaded.

"Sir, you are the king, but first and foremost you are my friend and a father figure and as such, I refuse to allow you to put yourself in this kind of danger alone. At the very least, I will accompany you personally." Undyne, surprisingly, said. It was odd seeing the normally brutish and ambitious head of the royal guard act so heartfelt and genuine.

_Woah what the fuck is going on? What is that big fluffy pushover planning on doing now?_

Frisk seemed to have the same thought because she ran up to her adopted father,

"What's happening?" The worry in her voice was evident and it seemed real. It's weird being actually worried about small things like that again. I guess living the same life over and over again with complete knowledge of what's gonna happen really takes the mystery out of not offing yourself.

Asgore seemed to have picked up on her worry as well because he bent down and picked her up in a bear hug.

"It's nothing, young one," he replied, earning an incredulous look from Undyne.

"Nothing!?" she exclaimed, "He wants to go out into the human world by himself to make sure it's safe. He's trying to get himself killed is what's happening!"

"Undyne, please," interjected Asgore, "I'm only trying to protect our friends and family. If we all go out at once, we will look like an army. We can not risk our only chance for a good first impression on the humans."

I couldn't help but agree with him. Despite having just spent an endless amount of time reliving the same two days over and over again, this timeline felt different. Something made me think it had an air of finality about it. It scared me. I didn't want to fuck it up.

"W-why don't we send out a-send out a scouting grou-group?" Alphys piped up, "We could figure-could figure out whether or not humans will accept us without putting all of mon-all of monster kind at risk."

"What a wonderful idea darling, but who would we send?" Mettaton put a hand on Alphys' shoulder. Despite him not doing anything wrong at that moment, I still felt annoyed at him.

_Man, Paps, you really know how to pick em' don't you?_

Asgore stepped forward,

"I am going. We need to approach this diplomatically."

Undyne joined him,

"Not without me you're not."

To my horror, Papyrus also stepped forward,

"AND OF COURSE THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL ACCOMPANY YOU KING ASGORE!" Before anyone could object to that, Frisk also started bouncing around,

"I'm coming too!" She exclaimed happily.

Of course with her confirmation came Toriel's,

"If you are going, then so am I, my child."

_Holy shit everything is moving so quickly._

Everyone, including me, kept joining in until all seven of the boss monsters standing in the room had volunteered to be put on a possible suicide mission. No one was able to argue the decision as we made the announcement. As we were left a few hours to make any goodbyes we had needed to make in the possible chance that the mission went awry, I decided to go to Grillby's for one last drink before everything changed.

As I walked into the rustic bar that I had visited many times before, I understood what Frisk was doing earlier. When she was taking in every detail of the room. I found myself doing the same. The warm safe haven that I could always go to in a time of need will be unavailable, at least for now. So many possibilities raced through my head at what could become of my fiery friend and his pride and joy. We could be killed up there and he'd go on running his bar like usual, he could fail to find another place to open his bar on the surface and be forced to abandon his dream, everything might go fine and he could open a successful bar on the surface, or possibly the one I fear the most, Frisk could break her promise and reset, leaving everything to go back to that nightmarish loop.

To my surprise, when I entered the bar I was enveloped by an extremely warm bearhug from Grillby himself.

"Heya Grillbs. Woah, where's the fire?" I earned a lighthearted smack to the back of my skull for that one.

"You better not die out there, Sans." He retreated back behind the counter and handed me a bottle of ketchup as I sat down at my usual spot. I shot him a lighthearted grin,

"Wouldn't dream of it."

I spent the next while accepting good luck wishes and exchanging goodbyes with the people around Snowdin. It was nice, but it didn't last long.

Eventually, it was time to set out- and as excited as I was, I was three times as scared. Not knowing what's coming next... it's frightening. Despite my fears and doubts, I put on a brave face for Papyrus. He was ecstatic, and I was not going to ruin that for him.

As Frisk led us out of the tunnel that once contained the barrier, I couldn't help but push away my growing anxiety in favour of my own giddiness and excitement. We could see a golden glow coming from the end of the tunnel. The sun- I vaguely remembered being told about the sun and the many other stars on the surface many resets ago. It had always been my favourite to hear about back when I still had hope. Now, being so close to the thing that I had only dreamed about experiencing, all of my hope came rushing back.

Giddily, we followed the child out of the last threshold and all collectively stopped in awe at the sight.

We were standing on a mountain ledge pretty high up in the air. Below us sat a multitude of trees and plant life covering the side of the mountain, and then, a city. Tall rectangular buildings among regular sized houses and large roads made me wonder just how many people lived in the city that could decide our fate.

By far, the most striking sight was the massive golden ball of fire just touching the horizon, bathing everything in soft light and filling the sky with brilliant colours. Hues of pink and orange danced among the few clouds, weaving together in a symphony of light and creating the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. A sunset- I remembered idly as I watched the ball of flame sink out of view.

"It's so beautiful." Alphys' clear voice broke me out of my trance. She didn't stutter or waver at all, it was incredibly odd.

"Frisk, you live with this?" Exclaimed Undyne, "Man, the sunlight is so nice and the air is so fresh. I really feel alive!"

I spared a glance at Frisk's face. She had a sheepish smile on her face and I realized she too hadn't seen a sunset for hundreds of years, only, not against her will.

Papyrus brought me out of my bitter thoughts,

"HEY SANS... WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?" He asked.

"We call that 'the sun' bro."

"THAT'S THE SUN? WOWEE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!"

Heh, yeah. Me too bro.

After standing there a while longer in relative silence watching the sun go down, we decided to start our trek down the mountain towards the city. Things around us were becoming harder to see as our only source of light disappeared. I noticed the air around us was becoming chillier and briefly wondered if shorts and a sweater would cut it for the kid.

_Well, she survived Snowdin, I'm sure this is fine for her._

Eventually, Toriel had to summon a fire attack to allow us to see through the underbrush surrounding us. As we trudged forward, I noticed something off. There was an extra pitter patter of feet that I didn't hear. My fears were confirmed when I did a quick headcount to find that Frisk was no longer with us.

"Guys," I stopped suddenly, startling those walking behind me, " where's Frisk?"

A few seconds of heavy breathing and gasping prompted Undyne to speak up,

"Oh haha, Frisk! Very funny. Now get out here punk!" Despite the brash persona she put on, I could hear the fear in her voice.

When no laughing child revealing that the whole thing just to be a big goof came from the trees, we started panicking slightly.

Then, a melodic voice rang out through the trees,

"Frisk it is. Okay then what are you doing out here alone?"

Like a bullet, Toriel began sprinting towards the sound, forcing us to scramble to keep up with her.

"My child! Frisk! Where are you?" She shouted.

A white light cut through the darkness in a beam as it waved back and forth a little ways ahead,

"They're over here!" The feminine voice yelled back. My mind was racing with possibilities of what we were running straight into, but all coherent thoughts were clouded with pure adrenaline. My soul was panicking loudly, and I could feel several others from our group in the same situation.

"LOOK! THE HUMAN MUST BE OVER WHERE THAT MYSTERIOUS LIGHT IS MOVING AROUND!" Papyrus exclaimed, relieved.

Finally, Toriel cut through the underbrush to reveal a clearing where Frisk was standing behind a woman wearing an (f/c) jacket and a checkered scarf. Her (h/l) (h/c) hair hung loosely and her (e/c) eyes scanned our group. She didn't look scared or angry, just shocked. It put me on edge... yet left me intrigued.

_As much as we want the humans to like us, we have to be careful. This girl could be dangerous._

Ignoring the woman's protective stance, Frisk ran around her and into Toriel's arms.

As Toriel started to scold Frisk for running off, I watched the woman's arm that had been waving in the air slowly lower as her form started to shake.

_Oh stars, don't cry. I don't know how to comfort a crying girl._


	3. Yin: What The Fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly panicking

In front of me stood seven of the fictional characters that I had once been obsessed with.

The flashlight dropped to the ground with a loud thud, causing everyone to turn their attention to me. I stood with wide eyes before quickly glancing around myself and focusing my gaze back on Frisk,

"You weren't kidding then. Oh my god." I felt my legs grow weak underneath me but fought to stay standing, well aware of the eight pairs of eyes staring into my own, each displaying a different emotion. "Did... did I die or something?"

One monster stepped forward, concern evident on his face,

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT TALLER HUMAN?" Papyrus asked, reaching towards me comfortingly. I glanced at his face,

"I'm not gonna lie, Paps, I could be better," I responded breathlessly. He froze at hearing his name come from a stranger's mouth. So did everyone else.

"HUMAN... HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" 

I ignored his question,

"Either I'm hallucinating, or this is real and I'm having a panic attack." I finally sunk to my knees, shaking. "Alphys, Sans, do either of you know anything about AU's? Cause I think this might be one." I looked them in the eyes respectively. 

Immediately I was encased in a blue mist, courtesy of Sans.

"How the fuck do YOU know any of this?" His voice was low and dangerous as he floated me closer to him and away from his brother. 

I put a shaky hand to my mouth as I felt my eyes water,

"Because none of you are supposed to be real..." I whispered.

He raised a skeptical browbone and gestured for me to continue. 

"Sans, you're scaring her!" Toriel exclaimed. I shook my head in response.

"No, he's not. I just... you are all characters in a game. A series of ones and zeros. I've seen Frisk's journey through the Underground so many times, good or bad. There was no war against monsters, well at least not one that the general public know about. As far as I know, this mountain isn't even called mount Ebbot. I think I just need a minute to process this. Can you put me down please?" Sans blinked and put me down gently.

I nodded and staggered over to my thermos before taking a swig and glancing at the night sky. The meteor shower above us made me smile for a moment. 

"Hey, guys I know we're in the middle of an existential crisis here, but look up," I said softly.

In a daze, they followed my instructions and gasped at the sight. 

"I've been planning to come up here for weeks. A shower this brilliant isn't supposed to happen for another year." I sighed, forgetting about the current situation and took another swig. Noticing a few of the monsters starting to shiver as they looked up, I reached into my bag and pulled out two blankets and the rest of my sandwiches. I picked up the third Frisk had discarded and approached the group that was too in awe to notice anything but the sky above them. I tugged on Toriel's sleeve lightly and handed her the three neatly folded comforters and food as I gestured to the shivering monsters. She flashed me a motherly smile before making groups and handing out blankets and snacks so that everyone was comfortable.

I smiled to myself and sat back down on the remaining blanket I had laid out. Taking another swig, I relaxed and watched the show, content to let the monsters enjoy stars for the first time in a long time.

_How is any of this possible? Toby Fox... who are you and what have you done? Was there actually a great war? If there was how do we not know about it? Was there like a government cover-up or something? What do we do now? Or... what do they do I guess. I'm not really part of their group, they just met me. Humans can't even handle each other being a little bit different, how will they handle monsters? Well, I mean there are a lot of people that love Undertale, I imagine there'd be an absurd amount of people on their size. Oh god. Fangirls._

A jolt went down my body at the thought. Not only would these people be bombarded with racist pricks, but they'd also be stalked by thousands of skelefuckers. 

I was so lost in thought, I didn't notice the skeleton sit beside me. I was only pulled out of my thoughts when a comforting hand was placed on my shoulder.

"ARE YOU OKAY, TALLER HUMAN?" Papyrus whispered. I blinked in disbelief and looked up at him incredulously.

"Am I okay? What about you? I can't imagine what must be going through your head right now. If I were you, I'd be terrified." 

He shrugged with a kind smile on his face,

"You seem pretty terrified as it is, kid," Sans replied, plopping down on Papyrus' opposite side.

I nodded,

"That's cause I am. Do you have any idea what this means? Thousands of people know things about all of you, about The Underground. Things most of the people living in The Underground don't know themselves. So many people know so many things, hell I don't even know what I know that is true, and what isn't. There are so many conflicting accounts. But that's not even what I'm really afraid of. I scared for you guys. Do you know what a fangirl is Sans? They're scary, and there are thousands of them. As if being bombarded with that wasn't enough, you'll also have to deal with racist pricks. God, we can't even be civil to each other, how are humans going to take monsters?" I began speaking faster and quieter, curling up more with every word.

I felt Papyrus rub soothing circles into my back.

"YOU SHOULDN'T WORRY YOURSELF SO MUCH, HUMAN. I'M SURE THAT IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO WHOEVER YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT, WE COULD WORK SOMETHING OUT SO THAT EVERYONE IS HAPPY! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus comforted me.

"Yeah kiddo. If you know as much as you say you do, then you know we're big strong monsters that can handle ourselves. Besides, that toaster over there deals with unyielding fans regularly. Us monsters are gonna be fine." I ignored the slightly annoyed tone in his voice as he responded and let myself be comforted by their words and nodded.

"Thank you, both of you."

Filled with a newfound drive to help these monsters integrate into society and find out what was going on, I let a grin spread across my face. I checked the time and found it was 11:00 pm. My eyebrows furrowed together and I turned to the two,

"You guys don't have anywhere to stay tonight, do you?" I asked. Sans paused for a moment at my sudden change in tone,

"Well no, I guess not. Any ideas?" He shrugged. I hummed and mulled it over,

"You could stay with me if you want. It's not too far away and I have plenty of room to spare. It's like, 11:00 and I don't think you're really gonna find anything else open..." He seemed hesitant up until I mentioned the time.

"It's not really up to me, so I'd ask Tori and King Fluffybuns over there, they kinda make the decisions. Given the time, I'd imagine they'd say yes to practically anyone, so chances of them declining are pretty slim." I noticed him let out an irritated sigh, and it seemed that Papyrus did as well because he spoke them.

"I THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA HUMAN! YOU GO ASK FEMALE ASGORE AND I'LL STAY HERE TO TALK WITH SANS!" He reassured me kindly. I let a worried look flash over my face before responding with a thankful smile,

"Okay, Paps. Thanks." I got up and started walking towards the royal family, who was a little farther from the rest of the groups. Toriel was holding a sleepy Frisk in her arms and Asgore was sitting beside them like a protective father. As I approached them it occurred to me that they were technically royalty, and I wondered if I should have addressed them as such. 

"Um, your highness?" I began. Toriel looked down at me in surprise,

"Oh heavens, you scared me! My child, please just call me Toriel!" She exclaimed quietly. I heard Frisk snicker at her response. Anxiously shifting from foot to foot, I spoke again,

"Sure. Um... Toriel, would you guys like to stay at my house tonight? It's getting pretty late, (it's like 11) and I don't think you guys are gonna find any hotels open or anything. If you don't want to, it's perfectly fine, but I, um, just thought I'd suggest it..." I found it was much easier presenting the idea to the skelebros, and trailed off awkwardly with Toriel. Whether it had something to do with knowing the skelebros better, or simply the fact that Toriel and Asgore towered over me, I didn't know.

Toriel quietly slapped a paw over her mouth,

"11:00? Gosh, Frisk should have been in bed hours ago! If it's not too much trouble, we'd love to stay at your house." 

"I agree," Asgore interjected, " As long as we wouldn't be imposing, that would be wonderful Miss..."

"Yin. Yin (L/N). And of course, you're perfectly welcome. It would be no trouble at all." I smiled, relieved they didn't think I was some creep.

With that, we began packing up the supplies I had brought and put them back into my bag. Undyne and Alphys brought me the three blankets and helped me fold them as I shook off and folded the one I had been sitting on. I picked up the discarded flashlight and my empty thermos and placed them in separate pockets on either side of the bag. Finally, I patted my pant pockets to make sure I had my phone and keys. While doing so, I felt an object in my back pocket. I pulled it out and found it was the pocket knife I had grabbed in a feeble attempt to protect myself from the danger known as Frisk. Looking at the knife, I chuckled to myself at the thought and went to put it in my backpack with the rest of my supplies, only to find I couldn't move.

Looking down, I noticed my body was completely encased in a blue mist, leaving only my head able to move around.

"Whatcha doing there, kiddo?" I turned to my right and saw Sans with a single eye leaking blue mist, his voice dripping with malice. My eyebrows furrowed as I replayed my actions in my head.

"What are you..." I glanced at the knife in my hand before it clicked and I quickly dropped the offending item, "Gah! Sorry, Sans, I forgot you had that thing with knives. I was just putting it back in my bag, but if me touching it makes you uncomfortable, you can put it back instead." I tried to give him an apologetic smile, but it was kind of hard when he was looking at me with such hate.

Papyrus put a hand on his shoulder and he made his magic disappear, dropping me onto the ground.

"Why do you even have that?" He asked, his tone was less aggressive, but still full of distaste.

I stopped dusting myself off and let my soft smile fall, looking at him as if he just asked why there was dirt on the ground.

"Are you joking? Why would, I, a young woman, alone in the woods, at night, need a knife to defend myself with?" I asked incredulously.

He raised a browbone,

"What could you possibly need to defend against out here? A deer?" 

I scoffed.

"Jesus, The Underground must be safer than I thought. Listen, dude, I'm a chick. That means in some places I have about as much chance being attacked holding a steak in a lion's den as I do walking down the street alone in a bad neighbourhood. If I take my eyes off my drink for even a second in a crowded club or bar, I risk being drugged and- I... nevermind." After realizing I was on a rant, I let my energy dissipate so I could speak calmly, "Sorry. It's been a long day, I didn't mean to take it out on you," I paused and picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder, "I need to defend myself against humans, Sans. Men specifically." I rolled my eyes, adding the last part.

Sans softened his glare before looking away, probably in hopes of me not catching his hesitation. I sighed and quickly stuffed the knife into my bag before smiling brightly and turning to the rest of the monsters that were looking at me with pity,

"Anyway! That's everything, so I'm ready to go if you guys are."


	4. Sans: Realizations Galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's watch Sans have an existential crisis and then almost feel bad when he lashes out like a dick,

Her flashlight hit the ground with a loud thud, drawing everyone's attention away from Frisk and onto her trembling form. She looked like she was having an existential crisis, I'd never seen anyone look that panicked before. I was going to make a joke to try to snap her out of it and show that we're not a threat, but then I noticed pinpricks of tears at the corners of her eyes and was caught off guard. 

She took a shaky breath and looked around her, focusing on the cliff nearby (which was worrisome, frankly), before she zeroed in on Frisk.

"You weren't kidding then, oh my god," her voice came out strangled and strained. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I couldn't help but wonder why she looked like we had just upended her life. Like, yeah, I get that we're monsters and all, but shouldn't that warrant fear? 

Her legs began to shake under her and I could tell she was struggling to remain upright. Toriel looked as though she wanted to comfort the woman in a hug, but wasn't sure if it would do more harm than good. Personally, I couldn't see how Toriel's naturally motherly aura could do anything but good, but that may be just me. 

The woman scanned our faces and inhaled another shaky breath before exhaling in an almost broken chuckle, 

"Did... did I die or something?" 

At this question, Papyrus stepped forward, concern evident on his features. 

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT TALLER HUMAN?" I could tell he was making an effort to lower his voice as not to startle her further while he reached towards the frightened human. 

_Papyrus no what are you doing? We have to be careful!_

My brother's proximity to the woman sent my brain into overdrive as I carefully analyzed her every move. I wouldn't allow this threat to harm my family in any way. Not this time. So I stayed rigid as a board, not wanting to fuck over monster kind, but also not wanting to risk injuring my friends and family in any way. 

At his question, the woman glanced up at his face. I couldn't help but notice she didn't have to look up as high as I did when addressing Papyrus. This little detail of her being a few inches taller than me annoyed me for some reason. 

She chuckled shakily again, 

"I'm not gonna lie, Paps, I could be better," 

_Red Flag! Red Fucking Flag! How the absolute fuck does this chick know Papyrus' name?_

Rightfully, Papyrus stepped back a little at hearing the complete stranger using a nickname as if they were old pals. I tried to look as intimidating as possible by making my eyelights disappear, but she wasn't phased. Because she didn't care or was too wrapped up in her own worries I don't know. 

I saw everyone else freeze upon hearing her address Papyrus. I didn't blame them- I completely understood why. Honestly, it was unsettling. She sounded so familiar with Papyrus it was eerie. I was scared... well no, I was more curious than scared to find out what else this girl could know about us. 

"HUMAN," Papyrus attempted to approach the human again, this time more cautiously, "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" 

My mind was racing with the same question as well as many others of the same calibre. How does she know Papyrus' name? Does she know anyone elses? If so how? Is she a threat to us? What else does she know? DO other people know us? And so on and so forth. The questions clouded my thinking process so much, I barely caught the subtle way her expression shifted into one of horrified acceptance and the way her legs shook more heavily than before. 

Seemingly ignoring Papyrus' question, (much to my annoyance) she let out a whimper and sank to her knees, 

"Either I'm hallucinating, or this is real and I'm having a panic attack." her voice was barely above a whisper. After a second or two of awkward silence due to no one having a clue as to what the best course of action would be, she raised her teary eyes and made eye contact, first with Alphys, then with me. I couldn't help but notice how her gaze searched my own. It made me feel exposed. I didn't like it. 

"Alphys, Sans, do either of you know anything about AU's? Cause I think this might be one." 

That set me off. 

_First, she knows our names, then she knows Dad's secret theory about alternate realities? Fuck no. He only told a single soul about that fucking theory and he made damn well sure I knew it was top secret. That's it. I am going to find out what the fuck is going on and I'm going to find out now._

In a split second decision, I picked her up with my magic and flung her out of Papyrus' reach and into my own. 

"How the fuck do YOU know any of this?" I made sure to keep my entire demeanour as threatening as possible, just in case. 

She covered her pained expression with her hand as the liquid in her eyes became dangerously close to spilling over. For the slightest second, I felt bad and worried that I might have caused her to cry. I was hit with an overwhelming need to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but immediately pushed that away and reminded myself how dangerous this human was becoming.

"Because none of you are supposed to be real..." 

_First of all, what kind of bullshit non-answer is that? We're not supposed to be real. Okay, chick. Secondly, what the fuck does that even mean? Man, she is kinda freaking me the fuck out here._

I ignored my thoughts and resisted the urge to roll my eyes; instead, opting to raise a browbone inquisitively and nodding my head once. 

Unfortunately, before she could respond to my silent question, Toriel jumped into action. 

"Sans, you're scaring her!" She had her disapproving mother thing turned on, clearly worried for this stranger. 

Before I could voice my thoughts about this woman being dangerous, surprisingly she herself intervened. 

She shook her head in almost a daze, 

"No, he's not. I just... you are all characters in a game. A series of ones and zeros. I've seen Frisk's journey through the Underground so many times, good or bad. There was no war against monsters, well at least not one that the general public know about. As far as I know, this mountain isn't even called mount Ebbot. I think I just need a minute to process this. Can you put me down please?" 

_Oh. That is a lot of information._

I suddenly understood her mentally broken look from before. Not really registering her request, I felt my magic dissipate and place her back safely on the ground despite the small little voice in the back of my mind that was screaming at me to pick her back up and demand that she take it all back. I wanted her to reassure me that she was kidding and that she was just some creepy psychic that knew too much for her own good. That maybe I hit my head on the way down and this is just all one big concussed fever dream. Just not a terrifying scenario in which countless strangers know god knows what about me and my family. Not a reality where I'm not even supposed to exist. 

Feeling more helpless now than I had felt trapped in the endless cycle of rinse and repeat for god knows how long, I watched as the woman who had just brought my entire reality crashing down on top of me stumble over to a blanket and backpack laying on the ground. She picked up a thermos and took a sip of whatever liquid was inside before I turned my attention to my friends and family. 

Everyone, including Frisk, was looking incredibly thoughtful. I wondered if she knew any more about this than we did. By the blank look on her face, I assumed no. Alphys and I seemed to be the only ones having a full-on existential crisis, however. 

It was only when all of my friends dazedly looked up at once was I snapped out of my thoughts. 

_What are they looking at?_

I followed their gaze. 

Wow. I was nearly knocked on my ass at the sight. 

High in the sky was thousands of twinkling white lights. All different shades of blue and purple subtly danced from horizon to horizon, illuminating the world below them. Stars. My pinpricks were glued to the sight I had been waiting to see ever since I was a little babybones. What's more, streaks of pure brilliant light accompanied the stagnant lights in the sky. Meteors, I remembered. I had read about them in a book I found at the dump a long time ago. I could remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to see those rocks whizzing through the endless void past the hunk of rock and water that is our planet. It was genuinely the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"I've been planning to come up here for weeks. A shower this brilliant isn't supposed to happen for another year." I heard the girl sigh. 

_Another year, huh? Hopefully, we're all alive and on the surface long enough to see something like this again._

I sat motionless just staring at the sky with Papyrus for a few more minutes before we were handed a sandwich and a blanket by Toriel. With my attention ripped from the sky for the moment, I looked around to see two other blankets being passed around the group along with multiple sandwiches. When Papyrus split the food in half and offered me some, I declined in favour of watching the stranger sat away from our group. 

She was sitting on a fourth blanket by herself and looking at the sky, shaking slightly. I couldn't help but wonder why she decided to help us. What did she want? Did she even want anything or is she just genuinely a nice person? Or maybe she feels bad for us. Whatever she was thinking about seemed to be troubling her a whole lot, because that trembling was not going down.

Papyrus must have noticed as well because before I knew it, he was walking over to her side. Not willing to let my baby bro alone with her just yet, I followed them silently. Papyrus carefully sat down beside the girl and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"ARE YOU OKAY, TALLER HUMAN?" He was using his quiet voice, the one he uses whenever he talks me down from nightmares. Despite the sincerity in his tone, I couldn't help but smile at his nickname for her.

She looked at him. 

"Am I okay? What about you? I can't imagine what must be going through your head right now. If I were you, I'd be terrified."

_Ah. There's my cue._

I plopped down on the other side of Papyrus, not ready to be that close to her myself just yet.

"You seem pretty terrified as it is, kid,"

Wow. Okay, that seemed to set her off because after nodding in agreement, she launched into a full blown panic induced rant.

"That's cause I am. Do you have any idea what this means? Thousands of people know things about all of you, about The Underground. Things most of the people living in The Underground don't know themselves. So many people know so many things, hell I don't even know what I know that is true, and what isn't. There are so many conflicting accounts. But that's not even what I'm really afraid of. I scared for you guys. Do you know what a fangirl is Sans? They're scary, and there are thousands of them. As if being bombarded with that wasn't enough, you'll also have to deal with racist pricks. God, we can't even be civil to each other, how are humans going to take monsters?" Her words slurred together as she spoke faster and quieter, curling up more and more, shielding herself from the world.

My mind flickered to the resets.

_Does she know about those? She said that she's seen Frisk through the underground so I assume so. Does that mean she knows about Chara? If she knows about the genocide runs then that means she knows about what Frisk has done, what I've done. What else does she know? More importantly, what is she gonna do with it? Does she know about dad? I wonder if she could answer some questions I have. Jesus. Something about this girl makes me so confused and unsure about everything. What is happening to me?_

"YOU SHOULDN'T WORRY YOURSELF SO MUCH, HUMAN," Papyrus' loud voice brought me out of my downward spiral, "I'M SURE THAT IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO WHOEVER YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT, WE COULD WORK SOMETHING OUT SO THAT EVERYONE IS HAPPY! NYEH HEH HEH!"

_Man Paps. You're too sweet for this world. It really is too bad that everything can't work out that easily. You better not take advantage of his innocence, chick._

I bit my tongue at the thought that this human could be manipulating us and chimed in with my own logic.

"Yeah kiddo. If you know as much as you say you do, then you know we're big strong monsters that can handle ourselves. Besides, that toaster over there deals with unyielding fans regularly. Us monsters are gonna be fine." I hoped neither Paps or the chick could hear the annoyed tone in my voice at the mention of Mettaton. Better than hearing my nervousness at the amount of power a single human has over us with all that knowledge. Regardless, the girl smiled sadly and nodded.

"Thank you, both of you."

Her worried smile turned into a determined grin and I couldn't help but find it akin to Frisk's expression back when she first decided she would break the barrier and free the monsters. It put me on edge because I knew what that grin ended in. Despite my uneasiness about the girl, I couldn't help but notice the hope in her voice. It was quiet and matched the tone her soul hummed at to a T. Refreshing yet still with a hint of underlying sweetness.

_Wait. What?_

Her soul. I could hear it humming.

I silently reeled back in shock.

_How can I hear it humming without even trying? You're supposed to have to really concentrate on the soul you're trying to hear and even then unless you have a mutual trust, it's pretty quiet. So why can I hear hers loud and clear? Is it cause she's a human? But Frisk's soul isn't this loud. Maybe it's due to the fact that she's older._

Before I could answer any of the internal questions I had about the nature of her soul, the girl turned back to us, the determined expression replaced with one of pity almost.

"You guys don't have anywhere to stay tonight, do you?" I paused for a moment, still reeling at the discovery, before shrugging it off. Plenty of time for the big questions later.

"Well no, I guess not. Any ideas?" I replied, silently hoping she wasn't gonna suggest what I thought she was.

"You could stay with me if you want." There it is. "It's not too far away and I have plenty of room to spare. It's like, 11:00 and I don't think you're really gonna find anything else open..." Aww dammit. I really wanted to decline, but the hopefulness was back and it was also accompanied by a nervousness that, frankly, annoyed me. What did she have to be nervous about? She wasn't the one that would have to put the safety of her friends and family in the hands of a complete stranger that knew a disturbing amount of information. Besides, once I heard the time, I knew we would have no choice regardless of the information this girl knew. Toriel is incredibly strict about bedtime for Frisk and 11:00 is way past her bedtime.

"It's not really up to me, so I'd ask Tori and King Fluffybuns over there, they kinda make the decisions. Given the time, I'd imagine they'd say yes to practically anyone, so chances of them declining are pretty slim." I let out an irritated sigh at the fact that we'd be left so defenceless in the home of a stranger. Unfortunately, Papyrus noticed and jumped in to stop any possible conflict.

"I THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA HUMAN! YOU GO ASK FEMALE ASGORE AND I'LL STAY HERE TO TALK WITH SANS!"

_Uh oh. I'm gonna get lectured._

Her eyes flashed over to me with a... worried expression? Was she concerned for me? Why? As quick as it was there, her concern was gone, replaced with a smile directed towards Papyrus.

"Okay Paps, thanks." With that, she stood up and made her way over to the Dreemurs. Leaving me with Papyrus.

Immediately he turned to me, a disapproving expression on his features,

"SANS, PLEASE TRY TO BE NICER TO THE HUMAN OFFERING HER HELP. "

"But-"

"I UNDERSTAND YOU WISH TO PROTECT US, BUT IT IS LIKE YOU SAID, WE ARE CAPABLE OF PROTECTING OURSELVES. IF THE HUMAN IS DANGEROUS, WE CAN DEAL WITH IT WHEN IT COMES."

"I-" 

"PLEASE SANS. FOR ME?"

I sighed, knowing he was right, but still not liking the idea of trusting the human. Sometimes that childish personality of his makes me forget that he's really smart and insightful. Maybe too much for his own good.

"Okay, Paps. I will."

Instantly, he shifted into joy as he swept me up in a hug.

"OH THANK YOU SANS!"

Not long after, Asgore announced that we would be spending some time at the woman's house so we got to packing up all the blankets. I watched as she filled her backpack and checked to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind. She was in the process of patting the pockets of her jeans when a puzzled look crossed her face. She reached into the pocket and pulled out something that made my blood run cold.

A knife.

Flashbacks of the genocide run invaded my mind. Images of Frisk wildly brandishing a knife as she came at me over and over again. Dust. Papyrus' head being crushed under a boot. I watched in horror as the girl's face displayed a lighthearted grin as she chuckled and shook her head. Before she could do anything, I felt my eye flare up and I trapped her in place. Effectively paralyzing her.

"Whatcha doing there, kiddo?" I made sure to let her know I wasn't fucking around by forcing my tone to drip malice.

To my surprise, she didn't even look scared upon finding out that she was immobile. Just... perplexed. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "What are you..." Her gaze flickered to the knife for a split second before she let out a gasp and it dropped onto the grass, "Gah! Sorry, Sans, I forgot you had that thing with knives. I was just putting it back in my bag, but if me touching it makes you uncomfortable, you can put it back instead." She smiled apologetically at me, but I only regarded her with the same hard glare.

_You're not fooling me ya fucking bitch. No one just stands there and laughs with a knife in their hands like a psycho without some ulterior motive._

Papyrus placed a gloved hand on my shoulder, gently coaxing me into dropping the girl. Which I did, reluctantly.

"Why do you even have that?" I sneered, hoping to expose the real reason for the knife out of her. I wanted to believe that she had evil intentions, but a small voice in the back of my mind told me to trust her. After all, how was she supposed to answer my questions if I hated her? I pushed that voice away, eyeing the knife.

Supposedly, that was the wrong thing to say because the soft apologetic smile she was giving me quickly fell into an expression of annoyance.

"Are you joking? Why would, I, a young woman, alone in the woods, at night, need a knife to defend myself with?" She asked incredulously.

I almost laughed at the poorly put together excuse.

"What could you possibly need to defend against out here? A deer?"

She scoffed.

"Jesus, The Underground must be safer than I thought."

_Fucking excuse me?_

"Listen, dude, I'm a chick. That means in some places I have about as much chance being attacked holding a steak in a lion's den as I do walking down the street alone in a bad neighbourhood. If I take my eyes off my drink for even a second in a crowded club or bar, I risk being drugged and- I... nevermind." She was frantic and as annoyed as she sounded, there was a hint of fear underneath her tone. Like this was something drilled into her head from an especially young age. Like a childhood trauma.

_Oh... shit._

She paused for a moment and sighed after her rant, letting her words sink into everyone listening.

"Sorry. It's been a long day, I didn't mean to take it out on you," Her voice was calmer, tired. She picked up her pack and slung one of the straps over her shoulder. "I need to defend myself against humans, Sans. Men specifically."

I felt my glare soften and looked away before she could notice. I felt bad, but I didn't want her to know that. She could still be evil.

Before anyone could react, her mood changed widely again.

"Anyway! That's everything, so I'm ready to go if you guys are."

I looked back at her to see she was smiling. It was a smile I recognized. One I wore often. It was fake and cheerful. Something about seeing the forced smile on her sent a shiver down my spine.

_Well, don't I feel like a dick._


	5. Yin: Sans Is Being A Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty self-explanatory. I mean he has a reason, sure, but still. Sansy we love you but chill out.

As we approached the two-story building, I began hearing murmurs from the group, including one very audible gasp from everybody's favourite flamboyant robot. 

"Darling, do you live here?"He asked, moving to walk directly beside me. I nodded,

"Yessir. I certainly couldn't afford to live in such a nice house normally, but my aunt bought it for me as a birthday present. She said it was because when I 'finally find a nice man' and have children, I'll want to live in a large house. Though I'm pretty sure most of the reason is so that she can drop by whenever she feels like bonding and having a shopping spree," I shrugged, "Not usually my thing, but I love my aunt, so I happily go along." I jumped after a second of silence, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ramble off like that." Painfully aware of the stares trained on my back, I bit the inside of my cheek and felt my cheeks warm. Though, I wouldn't have been so sheepish about the whole situation if I knew that they were looking at me with an amused expression on their faces. 

A hearty robotic laugh snapped me out of my quiet embarrassment. I looked up at Mettaton in surprise.

"Don't be sorry. It's nice hearing about you. It gives me a chance to get to know what kind of person you are." He patted my head reassuringly. A soft smile crept onto my face,

"I... thanks Metta."

Suddenly, Papyrus rushed in front of me and grabbed my shoulders, lifting me off the ground a little bit and effectively halting the group's progress. Not expecting the sudden action, I made a noise akin to a squeak in surprise. He studied my face for a moment,

"Uh, Paps-" I began, but was quickly interrupted.

"HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY?" His loud voice was full of concern. 

"What-"

"YOUR FACE HAS CHANGED COLOUR!"

I let the realization wash over me as my confused expression morphed into one of amusement.

"Papyrus, I'm fine. Just blushing." I shrugged- well, tried to shrug. It was difficult with Papyrus' hands wrapped around my upper arms.

He put me down,

"WOWEE! I DIDN'T KNOW HUMANS COULD BLUSH TOO!" He exclaimed.

"Too? Oh, so you guys can blush then? How does that work?" I asked, beginning to walk again.

"A-actually I can a-answer that." Stuttered Alphys, "S-since humans are made o-out o-of physical matter, they have a set of complex s-systems and organisms keeping them alive and functioning properly. Monsters aren't made out of the same stuff humans are, so they work much differently. We are made of magic, so when we say that our souls are the entirety of who we are, we mean it literally.

Our magic sort of acts like blood in the cases of monsters who don't typically have blood. So in the case of Papyrus, he can blush, but since it's his magic, it appears orange, which is his magic colour. This applies to bodily fluids and such as tears and saliva. On the other hand, monsters like me and Undyne have a series of systems similar to the animals we most closely resemble, so we blush red as we have blood. " Alphys grew more confident and stuttered less as she switched on her scientist mode. 

"Wow, that's really cool!" I bounced a little as I walked, happy about learning the truth after reading about so many conflicting theories.

After another twenty seconds, we had arrived at the front porch. I fished around for my keys in my backpack before unlocking the entrance to the house. Holding the door open for my guests, I let them enter and take in the interior before closing the door behind them,

"So," I began, "I have three bedrooms and two air mattresses in the basement storage. Because my aunt was dead set on the whole me having children thing, one of the bedrooms does have a smaller bed than the other two, fair warning. You guys are guests, so obviously you get the rooms and I'll sleep on the couch." I explained, gesturing around me as I mentioned different rooms.

"My dear, I couldn't possibly sleep knowing you were being kicked out of your room for our sakes." Toriel fussed. 

"Thank you, Toriel, but it really doesn't bother me. Besides, the least I could do is give you guys relatively comfortable places to sleep. I'll take the couch, it'll be fine." I waved my hand in dismissal. She seemed as though she was going to reply, but Frisk yawning loudly in her arms made her think better of it. I hummed, remembering the child's age.

_Poor Frisk is just little still, she must be tired. She's had a long day of freeing an entire civilization._

"Alright, hold on. I'm gonna go grab the air mattresses real quick. Feel free to look around."

Before leading the group up the stairs, I quickly walked into the kitchen and down the stairs that led to the basement. After a few minutes of searching the poorly lit room, I finally found the two deflated mattresses. I lugged them back up the stairs and dropped them on the floor as soon as I emerged from the kitchen. 

The loud smacking sound of the deflated plastic on the hardwood floor caught the attention of every monster in the room,

"Bed- ah!"I tried to step over the mattresses but quickly found myself lying on the ground as I had underestimated them and tripped. 

"Darling are you okay?"

"HUMAN, ARE YOU HURT?"

"Oh, my dear what happened?"

"Fuhuhu, that was hilarious punk!"

"O-oh no!" 

I heard Sans snicker quietly under everyone's worried exclamations and Undyne's amused laugh.

Like Undyne, I found humour in the situation and laughed as I pushed myself up to my knees,

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine." I stood up, "Happens all the time."

"Fuhuhu! You're not as much as a wimp as I thought!" Undyne told me, giving me a high five. I beamed and began walking towards the staircase.

"Thanks, Undyne. Now, if you will all follow me, the bedrooms are upstairs." 

I led the group upstairs and showed them the three bedrooms.

"This is the one with the smaller bed. No one has slept in this room since I moved in, but I've kinda been using it for clean linens and such. This one over here was Ma's room back when she was living with me. She's all moved out now though so it hasn't been occupied for a while. Oh, and this one over here is mine. I keep it fairly clean so you don't have to worry about that. I'll have to grab a few things for the night, but that's about it. Oh, right! The bathroom is over here, at the end of the hall." I gestured to each room as I spoke about it.

I turned to the group after reaching the end of the hallway before frowning slightly at Sans' glare. Before anyone could notice, I clapped happily and smiled,

"Okay! You guys decide who gets what and I'll go grab some extra blankets." I slipped past the group and my smile immediately fell as I passed them.

_Why does Sans hate me so much? Maybe he just really hates humans? But then what about Frisk? Oh, right. His promise to Toriel. Maybe I was one of the humans that fell down in another timeline? No, that seems wrong._

I opened the door to the children's room and closed it behind me,

"God, it's been so long since I've thought about any of this and not wanted to cringe," I whispered to myself as I retrieved a stack of blankets and sheets from the closet. Suddenly, a thought stopped me in my tracks and almost made me drop what I was holding.

_I need to re-purge my room and my computer, just in case. Who knows what shitty fanart I could still have hanging around? I know it's been years, but still._

Physically shaking that thought out of my head and promising to do a quick once-over of my room later, I walked to the door and awkwardly opened it while trying not to drop the sheets and blankets.

"HUMAN!" A loud voice yelled directly in front of me as I closed the door behind me. Unfortunately, because of the large stack of linens in my arms, I couldn't see Papyrus' excited face or prepare myself for his loud presence.

"Holy shit!" Startled, I yelled and frantically tried to stop the stack of fabric from falling out of my hands. A pair of gloved hands helped steady me and grabbed the stack out of my hands, much to my relief.

"SORRY HUMAN! I JUST CAME TO TELL YOU THAT WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING SORTED OUT." He told me in a more apologetic, but just as loud tone.

I nodded thankfully,

"Thank you Paps and that's alright, you didn't mean to startle me. Everyone has their rooms picked out?"

"YES."

"Cool. I'll go grab the air mattresses and we'll plug 'em in where they need to be. Where are the air mattresses going?"

"One of em's upstairs and the other will stay in the living room." Sans appeared beside me and answered my question.

I raised an eyebrow,

"Really? Who's rooming with me?" I asked, glancing between the two. Sans responded by jutting a thumb out at himself.

"The one and only." He rolled his eyes and slightly sneered when he thought Papyrus wasn't looking.

I rubbed my arm, feeling my mood drop at Sans' blatant hate for me,

"Are you sure? You don't really seem all that happy about that..." I mumbled.

"NONSENSE! HE JUST HASN'T HAD ENOUGH TIME TO GET TO KNOW YOU YET. THAT'S WHY YOU TWO ARE GOING TO HAVE A SUPER AWESOME BRAND NEW FRIENDS SLEEPOVER!" Papyrus exclaimed, clearly proud of his idea. 

"Was that your idea Paps?" I asked, softly, still very much aware of Sans' sour mood.

"IT WAS, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING!" I gave him a soft smile and let his childish and cheerful demeanour cheer me up a bit.

"Well, in that case, it has to work, given your amazing problem-solving abilities and all." I chuckled lightly and his face showed a slight trace of orange from the compliment.

"NYEH?! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT? OH NO, MY ONE WEAKNESS!" He cried and ran towards where I had left the group before. 

I stared after him with a genuine smile on my face and let out a giggle. 

"What a sweetheart." 

Beside me, Sans let out a scoff, 

"He's dating that toaster, he's not available. Not that I'd let that happen anyway." He growled, clearly not impressed by either thought.

I raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Sans,

"I'm not into your brother, Sans. I just find it nice that despite everything, he's still willing to be kind and give anyone a chance. You can't be around someone like that and not want to smile." I explained, feeling the good atmosphere brought on by Papyrus dissipating. I slouched my shoulders slightly and sighed, "Listen, Sans, I don't know what I did to make you hate me, but I want you to know I mean no harm to you or your family and I still want to be friends despite your obvious distaste for this whole situation." I looked him in the eyes and gave him a pitiful smile before following Papyrus.


	6. Yin: Nighttime Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby steps.

Sleeping arrangements ended up as follows:

Undyne and Aphys opted to sleep in my room with Mettaton plugged into the wall, charging.

Frisk was put in the child's room with Papyrus on an air mattress on the floor.

Toriel and Asgore got Ma's old room.

Sans and I slept in the living room with Sans on an air mattress on the floor and me on the couch.

After changing into pjs and quickly making sure there wasn't anything embarrassing out in the open in my room, I grabbed my laptop and both its and my phone's charger before leaving the room for the night. I sat down on my makeshift bed and as seeing as Sans was telling Paps and Frisk a bedtime story, pulled out my phone and called Julie.

The phone rang a few times before she picked up. Her voice was groggy as if I had woken her up.

"Yin why the fuck are you calling me at," She paused, presumably to look at her phone's screen, "11:30?"

_Oops._

"Hehe, sorry. I just called to tell you that I won't be at work for a few days. Call it a personal emergency." I shrugged. Julie groaned loudly on the other end of the phone,

"Is this like the last personal emergency?" I could basically hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Hey! Free food was on the line, I had no choice. And no. This is something genuinely important." I replied.

"Fine. You're lucky I like you, Yin. See you on Monday. Now go away, I happened to be having a good dream before you so rudely interrupted." She growled.

I giggled,

"I love you too. Now go back to dominating the world or kissing hot people or whatever."

"I will, thanks."

The line went silent and I knew she had hung up. Giggling to myself, I put my phone down and pulled my laptop into my lap.

_Alright. I just have to dive back into the Undertale fandom after years in a possibly useless attempt to get a hold of the alleged creator and get the answers we need. I'm going to have to go to places I never wanted to know about again, nevermind actually go to. How hard could it be?_

I took another second to steady myself and think about what I was about to put myself through before nodding, determined, and placing my hands on the keyboard.

After following dead end after dead end, I put my laptop on the couch beside me and sighed quietly, disappointed at the results of the deep dive into my past.

The only piece of advice I got was to be famous and maybe I'd have a sliver of a chance in speaking to the real Toby Fox.

I contemplated that piece of advice as I looked at my phone and thought of my aunt. On one hand, I didn't want to have to ask her for a favour, and on the other hand, it was for a good reason.

Very aware of the sleeping skeleton barely a few meters away from me, I grabbed my phone and snuck out the back door and onto the porch, making sure to be quiet.

The cold air washed over me and chilled me to the bone as I stared into the sky.

"Okay. This is fine, I can do this." I nodded to myself and pressed my Aunt's contact. She picked up after three rings,

"Hello, my favourite niece! To what do I owe the pleasure? Oh, do you finally have a potential husband!?" She answered enthusiastically. I couldn't help but beam at hearing her cheerful voice,

"No, Aunty, nothing like that. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Of course not dear! I'm at a party right now. Just stepped out for a bit when you called. Now, what did you need?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me get a hold of someone face to face. He's kinda elusive, so I can't find anything on my own." I admitted.

"Who is it, dear?"

"He's a creator of an indie game that went viral a while ago. His name is Toby Fox."

"I'm sure I could pull a few strings, why do you need to talk to him?"

"Well, I'm currently letting a few friends stay over at my house and he's wronged them, exploited them, if you will. They're really sweet people that don't deserve all the shit he's caused and I want to do anything I can to make their situation even a little bit better." I felt my voice waver as I let my emotions take over for a second before regaining control.

There was a silence before she responded,

"You are too sweet for this world. I promise I'll do what I can to help, okay? Do you need me to send over some big dudes in muscle shirts to beat him up in the meantime?"

I giggled,

"I think I'm going to let him explain himself first, thanks though. Don't worry, if he deserves it, I'll give him a good one in the jaw just for you."

"Good! Aww, alright, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm being waved back in. I hope everything goes well with your friends. And don't forget I'm still waiting on those little ones!"

"Pff. I love you."

"Love you too, dear. Bye."

"Bye."

I stuffed my phone into my pocket and looked back up into the night sky, smiling. After a minute of feeling content, I felt a shiver go down my spine and remembered the cold. Deciding staying out for a few more minutes wasn't worth freezing over, I quietly crept back inside.

I walked as quietly as I could back to the living room and jumped into my makeshift bed, snuggling into the warmth my blanket brought me.

It wasn't long before I drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

However, my sleep did not last long as I was woken up not even an hour later to the sounds of whimpering.

Tiredly, I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room as I tried to locate the source of the sound. My search was over quickly as I noticed the soft blue light coming from Sans.

Sans was tossing and whimpering quietly. On his cheeks, I could see blue glowing tear tracks, and his eye was leaking blue mist that floated upward before dissolving.

_Oh god, he's having a nightmare._

I made my way towards him and kneeled beside his mattress.

"Sans, hey, you're okay, It's just a nightmare," I whispered. He continued to thrash so I resorted to waking him up.

I put my hands on his shoulder and shook him slightly,

"Sans, wake up. You're having a nightmare. He-" My soft words were interrupted by him bolting into an upright position and grabbing the wrist that was on his shoulder. His eye sockets opened and only one eyelight was present. Blue and yellow mist poured out of his eye socket as his one eyelight was trained on me threateningly.

"Dirty brother killer." He growled and lifted me up with his magic.

"Sans, no! Papyrus is okay, I promise! Everyone is okay, but if you slam me into anything, you might wake them up!" I whisper yelled, hoping no one was too light of a sleeper.

His eye slowly died down at the same time his eyesockets began to droop from drowsiness,

"Oh. It's just you." He mumbled angrily and put me back down gently, "I hate you, you know... or, no. I want to hate you." He glared at me and I hung my head at the confirmation that he hated me. "You know too much. You could use that to become another her, another Chara..."

To my absolute surprise, he pulled me into a hug,

"But I don't understand. You're so nice to everyone despite knowing their flaws. You're so annoyingly sweet and kind. And dammit. Of course, you have to be soft and warm as well. Why do you get to be so dangerous and so comforting? I don't even know your fucking name. I hate that...." He trailed off and I felt his breathing slow.

Shocked and flustered, I came to the conclusion that he was still half asleep and didn't know what he was saying. Nevertheless, I felt my cheeks warm at his words, intended or not. I then realized that he was still latched on to me, sleeping. I tried to free myself of his grasp but to no avail.

"Sans?" I asked in hopes that he would let go.

He didn't budge, so I shook him a little bit,

"Sans!" I whisper yelled.

"Mmmm?" Came a drowsy reply.

"Sans, can you let go, please?"

"...what?" Suddenly, I was harshly pushed onto the ground and away from Sans, "What the fuck are you doing?" He asked harshly, now genuinely awake.

I bit the inside of my cheek before deciding he probably didn't want me to have heard those things.

_It was probably just him sleeptalking anyway._

"You were having a nightmare and when I woke you up you seemed angry, but then you hugged me, mumbled some things and fell asleep,"

"I hugged you?"

I put my hands up reassuringly, "It was probably just a reflex or something, no harm no foul." I told him nervously and pushing myself into a kneeling position.

He seemed angry at something, whether at me or himself, I didn't know.

"And you didn't hear anything I said?" He asked skeptically.

I looked down and pursed my lips,

"Well, no, I did," I decided to tell him the gist of what I had heard, knowing that lying to him was probably a bad idea, "You told me you hated me because you didn't like how I knew so much about you guys. You said something about me becoming Chara... but then you said you were confused as to how I was still so nice even knowing everyone's flaws. And you wanted to know my name. That's about the gist of it." I concluded. I felt my face warm up against my will at remembering him calling me sweet and warm.

I looked back up at his face only to find his face was dusted blue.

"Oh..." He seemed embarrassed that I had heard what he said and we fell into an awkward silence.

I felt my heart quicken as I looked back down and my embarrassment took over my face with every passing minute.

"I uh- I won't, by the way. Become Chara that is. I don't know which version of your past is true, but I know that you've all been through more than enough. You don't deserve the pain humans have caused you and I don't plan to add to it. I promise." I told him, feeling my cheeks die down as I spoke.

He simply glared at me for a few moments before speaking,

"Yeah, well, thanks, kid. Just keep that promise and everything will stay cool between us, alright? Don't take what I said too literally either. I was half asleep and you're still a danger. I'm sleeping in here to keep an eye on you, not to be your friend." His tone was cold and detached. After making sure I knew how he felt, he laid back down and turned his back to me in a huff.

I nodded and slowly stood from my kneeling position,

"Sure. It's Yin by the way. My name, that is." Despite his cold tone, I felt happy that we were making progress.

My only answer was silence,

"Okay. Night, Sans. Sweet dreams."

Again, despite the silence, I still felt happy.

After that, I crawled into my blanket and smiled to myself before falling asleep for the night.


	7. Sans: Okay So Maybe I WAS Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes through some self-reflection. He's confused and tired and battling with a lot of internal shit.

After a long walk to the woman's house and a good half an hour of setting up rooms and such, I was sitting in Papyrus' and Frisk's room for the night reading Papyrus' copy of Fluffy Bunny that he always has in his phone's box.

My thoughts drifted to the enigma that was the girl as I 'read' the memorized words.

_I really don't know what to think of this girl. So far she hasn't done anything that could warrant me being suspicious of her, I mean unless you count being incredibly generous and slightly clumsy reason to be suspicious. I still can't help being wary of her though. What she might know kinda scares me. If she really knew as much as she claimed then I don't think she'd let us sleep in her home. I mean come on. She knows what I can do, she knows how strong most of us are, she knows what Frisk did with Chara and she knows about Alphys and her amalgamates and she STILL gives us free roam to her home? Either she's lying about being genuinely kind or she's lying about what she knows because there's no way she knows about all that and still cares about our well beings._

_...but what if she does?_

Before I could explore that thought any further, I ran out of story to recite and became aware of the two sleeping bodies in the room with me. Quietly, I placed the book on the nightstand and teleported outside the room before silently padding down the stairs.

The girl was sitting on the couch with a laptop in her lap, grumbling quietly ever so often. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I crept behind her to get a look at what she was doing. Yeah yeah, I get it; invasion of privacy and all that jazz, but at the moment I didn't care.

She seemed to be jumping from website to website looking for... something. After a few minutes, I had gleaned she was looking for someone. Toby Fox. I briefly wondered who that person could be, but was snapped out of it by more frustrated grumbling,

"Another dead end; how the fuck am I gonna do this?" She mumbled not having noticed my obvious eavesdropping.

Not wanting her to turn around suddenly and see me being a creep over her shoulder, I silently backtracked to the stairs and walked to my temporary bed/air mattress that was set up on the floor in her peripheral vision. To my relief, after plopping down with a quiet 'oof' the only reaction I got from her was a brief glance up from her screen and a soft smile.

The quiet grumbling became silent after that. Aside from the sound of occasional typing and quiet breathing, the room was eerily silent, leaving me to my thoughts.

_Okay, so let's check the facts. Frisk let us out of the underground and has promised not to reset anymore. Regardless of whether or not that's true, we are still relatively free. It seems that being above ground has had some unforeseen dangers. Something no one could have predicted. Maybe not even that little demon bitch. We aren't supposed to be real. We are known above ground as characters from a game. As of right now, we are seeking refuge in the house of a clumsy woman (man I really need to find out her name soon) that knows an undetermined amount of information about my entire life. No biggie. She could know all of our weaknesses and use them to physically and emotionally destroy each and every one of us. And according to her, so does anyone with any type of access to the surface's version of the Underweb. Completely fine._

I decided I didn't like being left to my thoughts, so I rolled over and closed my eyes, trying to dispel the thoughts and go to sleep. I didn't get very far in my endeavours before the woman made a noise akin to a whine. It was quiet but noticeable in the silent room. 

She sat in silence for a few moments afterward before I heard her close her laptop and exit the room. I listened to her footsteps get farther and farther into the kitchen before the sound of a door opening and closing.

Obviously, I followed her. You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. I was hoping that satisfaction brought it back.

I crept to the glass door that led out to the back porch and listened. She was leaning comfortably on the railing with a phone to her ear. The moonlight illuminated her form, casting a pale light on her body and allowing me to see the sad and slightly guilty expression on her face.

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me get a hold of someone face to face. He's kinda elusive, so I can't find anything on my own." She said. Her voice was kinda muffled by the door, but I could tell that she felt bad about asking the other person on the phone. I wondered who she could possibly be talking to. What connections did she have that could just solve all her problems? Moreover, who is this guy?

It seemed that the person on the phone asked the same question.

"He's a creator of an indie game that went viral a while ago. His name is Toby Fox."

_An indie game? I wonder if this is the guy that made the game about us. But what does she want with him?_

"Well, I'm currently letting a few friends stay over at my house and he's wronged them, exploited them, if you will. They're really sweet people that don't deserve all the shit he's caused and I want to do anything I can to make their situation even a little bit better."

_Stars, that's really... sweet._

Suddenly I felt kinda bad about being so cold towards her. But... I had a reason to be cautious. Didn't I?

I shook that thought off and decided to creep back towards the living room. We don't need her seeing that I was eavesdropping and kicking us all out. 

I lied back down on the air mattress and sighed. All signs were pointing to trust the girl, but then why does she make me feel so... cautious?

Not willing to launch into another round of overthinking everything, I shook that question away and relaxed, letting my mind drift away into unconsciousness.

_Dreaming Start!_

 

_Ah. My old friend._

_I was standing in the one place in the entire world that I hated more than any other. One that filled me with pure unbridled rage, the need to curl up in a ball and cry in fear, and the overwhelming desire to end it all right there all over the walls._

_The motherfucking judgement hall._

_How ironic that the golden colour of that retched hall matched the colour of my deepest magic. Y'know, I used to really like that colour before all this shit happened. Not anymore, obviously._

_Despite knowing I was dreaming, the only cohesive thought bouncing around in my skull was, "She reset again. I fucking knew it was too good to be true."_

_And there they were. Frisk- or, more accurately Chara. You'd think that the adopted child of someone like Tori and Asgore would be compassionate enough to realize that complete and utter genocide goes against this unspoken moral code, but apparently not. Covered in fine dust and... blood, strangely, Chara was standing at the other side of the hall, holding that knife._

_Ugh. That knife._

_I still don't know how they found that fucking thing in the underground. We all use magic so physical weapons are kinda useless. Maybe they brought it with them on the way down. I didn't know. All I could focus on was preparing myself for the fight that we both have fought time and time again._

_It was odd though._

_Chara was acting even happier than usual. More smug. Their maniacal grin held some pure joy in it this time around. Somehow that made them more unsettling._

_Suddenly, my body acted on its own._

_I felt myself wrap my magic around their throat, constricting their breathing. This seemed to surprise them just as much as it surprised me. I mean, after all, not once in every single timeline did I attack first._

_Again, my body acted,_

_"Who's fucking blood is that you little shit?" I said. I think I knew the answer to that question deep down inside, but grief clouded my mind._

_Why am I grieving? Is it because of Papyrus? But... I thought I was numb to this?_

_Annoyingly, their grin grew larger, happier._

_"Don't you recognize her, comedian?" They laughed. It came out hoarse and strained due to lack of airflow, but it was there none the less, "Of course you do! After all, who forgets their own soulmate?"_

_A bone was shot through their skull and their lifeless body crumpled to the ground instantly._

_And so the game began._

_I was allowed to take in their form for a second or two before they appeared back at the other end of the hall._

_Annoyingly, I was met with harsh laughter,_

_" You didn't let me get to the best part! She's still alive! But for how long?"_

_Crunch._

_Crack._

_Splat._

_I listened to Chara's internal organs explode as they were slammed against the walls and floor repeatedly. Splatters of blood and a black substance painted their body and the places that it touched._

_This time their returning laughter had a more malicious edge to it._

_"Your brother though, he died a long time ago."_

_A gaster blaster completely obliterated the matter in their body._

_Again, they returned._

_"He was fun to kill! He screamed like a little bitch!"_

_Suddenly the world around us began shaking. Tremours shook the building, maybe the entire underground. Pillars began to crumble, windows shattered, and the floor started cracking like thin ice._

_I only got one last glance at Chara's maniacal grin before they disappeared into the floor beneath them. It wasn't long before I did the same._

_I fell until my back hit the ground with a sickening crunch. But it didn't hurt. And for a moment, I was content to lie on the ground and grieve for Papyrus and for this soulmate person that I was useless to save. Until I felt hands on my shoulder._

_Startled, my hand shot up to grab the wrist of the person as I abruptly sat up. Their wrist was smooth, human. My eyes shot open and I saw Chara sitting way too close to me. Touching me._

_Before they could say anything, or I could register the startled look on their face, I picked up their body with my magic, fully intending to slam them against to void repeatedly._

_"Dirty brother killer."_

_Before I could actually carry out my plan, they morphed. Changed into the woman that took us in. I saw her mouth moving. She was saying something quickly. Frantic, but not scared._

_I scoffed and put her down,_

_"Oh. It's just you."_

_She kneeled beside me._

_"I hate you, you know," I said suddenly, "or, no. I want to hate you."_

_She hung her head and for some reason, the sadness in her eyes sent a painful pang through my soul. So I elaborated._

_"You know too much. You could use that to become another her, another Chara..."_

_But that didn't help. Still, she looked sad. So my body acted on its own again._

_I pulled her into a hug and was immediately taken aback._

_She was so soft and she smelled like vanilla and coffee. Combined with her warmth and the comforting pressure she returned as she hugged back, it was something I could get lost in._

_But my mouth had other ideas though._

_"But I don't understand. You're so nice to everyone despite knowing their flaws. You're so annoyingly sweet and kind. And dammit. Of course, you have to be soft and warm as well. Why do you get to be so dangerous and so comforting? I don't even know your fucking name. I hate that you do this to me. Why do I feel such a pull towards you?"_

_Then she spoke. I didn't hear her, but I felt her jaw pressed up against my clavicle move._

 

_End_

 

"Sans!" 

My reply came out groggy, muffled. I felt drastically more tired than I had felt mere seconds ago, yet somehow still more aware.

"Mmmm?"

"Sans, can you let go, please?"

I paused. 

"...what?"

Suddenly aware, I realized that me hugging her wasn't a dream. Flustered, I let go and pushed her off of me. I didn't mean to push so hard, but I had to keep up the tough persona. Just in case.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I spat.

She looked away for a second, thinking over her reply. I hoped to fuck that she didn't hear me say all that shit.

"You were having a nightmare and when I woke you up you seemed angry, but then you hugged me, mumbled some things and fell asleep,"

Mortified, I said the first thing that came to mind,

"I hugged you?"

She seemed to grasp my mortification because she tried to reassure me next.

"It was probably just a reflex or something, no harm no foul." She put her hands up and smiled nervously. 

I knew she was trying to be nice, but I couldn't help but feel a little pissed at myself for being so vulnerable around someone I had just met. 

_Wait._

_Did she say I mumbled some stuff?_

"And you didn't hear anything I said?" I really hoped on her end everything I said was incoherent, but I had a feeling that I wasn't gonna be that lucky.

She pursed her lips,

"Well, no, I did. You told me you hated me because you didn't like how I knew so much about you guys. You said something about me becoming Chara... but then you said you were confused as to how I was still so nice even knowing everyone's flaws. And you wanted to know my name. That's about the gist of it."

I felt my magic rush to my face.

_Oh stars, she heard that? Well, at least she didn't hear the rest of it. Oh my god, she would be so creeped out._

I glanced at her face to see that a faint blush of her own was starting to appear.

_Oh god, she did hear more! Holy shit how do I fix this?_

"Oh," I mumbled intelligently.

We fell into an awkward silence while I tried to think of a way to dig myself out of the hole that I unwillingly dig. Pretend it never happened? Play it off as sleepy ramblings? Actually, that one might work.

"I uh- I won't, by the way. Become Chara that is. I don't know which version of your past is true, but I know that you've all been through more than enough. You don't deserve the pain humans have caused you and I don't plan to add to it. I promise."

Her voice pulled me out of my thoughts. As sweet as that promise was, I felt envious of her. She was able to just make promises. She didn't have to be overly scared and cautious of the person in front of her in fear that they could snap and harm her family.

Once again, my body stepped in and responded with a snappy tone to keep up the wall.

"Yeah, well, thanks, kid. Just keep that promise and everything will stay cool between us, alright? Don't take what I said too literally either. I was half asleep and you're still a danger. I'm sleeping in here to keep an eye on you, not to be your friend." To emphasize my point, I rolled over and lied down so that my back was to the girl.

I listened to her shuffling around for a few seconds until she settled into the couch once more.

"Sure. It's Yin by the way. My name, that is."

_Yin._

I didn't answer.

"Okay. Night, Sans. Sweet dreams."

Her voice sounded cheerful, hopeful almost. The humming of her soul echoed the tone of her voice. It was pleasant. Sweet. I couldn't help but let it raise my own spirits and fill me with hope as well. 

I found myself enjoying her presence. I hadn't felt hope, real hope in so long I was starved for the feeling. I caught myself smiling to myself at the realization.

_Stars, Yin. What are you doing to me?_


	8. Yin: Opening Up (Aka Sans Is Being Way Less Of A Dick)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Self-explanatory. Also pancakes!

I woke up peacefully to the bright morning sunlight streaming in through the window. The mouthwatering scent of breakfast wafted through the air and coaxed me out of bed... is what I'd like to say.

No, instead I was jolted awake by the harsh sound of my phone ringing. I groaned and answered the call, fully aware of the others sleeping in the house,

"Hello?" The sound of my groggy voice made me wince and I dragged myself to the kitchen so that Sans wouldn't be woken by my talking. I still wasn't sure how heavy of a sleeper he was and I wasn't willing to risk it.

"Hello, this is Kate, Toby Fox's agent calling about a meeting you wish to have." A peppy female voice blasted through the speakers. I turned down the volume by a few notches and responded,

"Oh, wonderful!"

"Since you requested the meeting, you will be providing the location. Mr. Fox will be at whatever location you choose on this Thursday at exactly noon. Do not be late, Mr. Fox is a very busy man."

"I, okay, but can I ask why he agreed to meet with me?"

"Lucky for you, Mr. Fox was willing to make a deal with Ms. Minerva. The exact details of that deal are highly confidential. Any more questions?"

"I suppose not-"

"Good. Then send the address of your chosen location within the day and Mr. Fox will see you in two days. Thank you for your time Ms. (L/N)."

"I look forward to it. Thank you- oh."

The phone went dead as the professional sounding lady hung up. I looked at my black phone screen for a moment before finally processing what had just happened.

_Wow, that woman talks fast. And loudly. And cheerfully. God, it's too early for this shit... wait how early is it?_

I pressed the power button on my phone and looked at the time. 7:30 am. I groaned, knowing that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now that I was up. Looking around the kitchen, I decided to make breakfast like a good hostess.

I sifted through my cupboards until I found something that caught my eye.

_Mmmm. Pancakes for the win my dude._

_..._

_There is no one around me, who am I addressing as my dude? That doesn't make any sense. Now I'm talking to myself- no. Thinking to myself. I'm having a whole ass conversation by myself in the middle of a kitchen at seven am on a Tuesday morning._

_..._

_Goddamnit, I'm still doing it._

I shook my conversation from my thoughts as I grabbed the materials for pancakes and started mixing them together when I heard a sound. Behind me, I heard a small yawn.

When I turned to look, Frisk was standing in the doorway.

"Mornin' Frisky Bits. I didn't wake you, did I?" I asked, wondering if I was too loud.

"Nope!" She smiled brightly at me. Her morning personality made me smile back.

"Hmm. Do you want to help make breakfast for everyone?" I asked, well aware of what her answer was going to be.

"Yes!" She excitedly ran towards me at top speed.

In an instant, I put down the bowl I was holding and crouched down as I turned to face the oncoming child and captured her in a hug. In one swift motion, I picked her up and held her on my hip.

"Okay, but you have to be really quiet," I whispered. Frisk giggled and nodded as she put one finger to her lips and shushed herself. I booped her nose and put her down with a smile, which made her giggle more.

I walked over to the table and grabbed a chair for Frisk to stand on so she could see on top of the counter. Looking at the ingredients I had for plain pancakes, I paused and realized something was missing.

"Hmm. Uh oh. Frisk, it looks like the secret ingredient is missing." I told her as I put my hand on my chin in a faux thinking pose.

She looked at the ingredients I had laid out and tilted her head in confusion,

"What is it?"

I smiled and turned away from her, walking to the fridge,

"That's for you to decide. So you tell me, is it going to be blueberries or chocolate?"

"Both!" She exclaimed.

I pulled out the two items for the fridge and brought them back to the excited girl,

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

I let Frisk mix the batter together as I began prepping the stove. When she was done, I scraped the sides of the bowl to make sure that she mixed the batter properly. Finding almost no dry ingredients stuck to the sides of the bowl, I smiled and praised Frisk.

"Wow, Frisky, you're real good at this. Do you bake a lot?"

"Yep! I make Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie with Mom all the time!" She beamed.

I turned to the now hot stove and put a bit of butter on the pan,

"Okay, you have to promise me that you won't touch the stove and that you'll be extra careful during this part. I can't have you getting hurt." I told her seriously, putting my guardian voice on.

She nodded and made a little x over where her heart would be.

Satisfied, I poured some of the mix into the hot pan and began humming a [familiar tune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rage9TTBJFE) quietly as to not wake anyone.

"What song was that?" Asked Frisk as I finished.

I smiled and gave her a hug before plating another pancake,

"It's a song my mom used to sing to me when we'd cook together when I was really little like you. Of course, my voice isn't as pretty as hers, but I thought it'd be nice to sing it to you."

**(Also yes I get that her mom couldn't have sung it to her because it would fuck up the timeline, but just roll with it.)**

"I think your voice is really pretty! Right, Dunkle Sans?" She smiled and turned towards the doorway. I followed her gaze hesitantly, and sure enough was a blue-faced Sans standing in the doorway. As I realized someone was listening to me sing, I too felt my face erupt in colour. Frisk, seemingly annoyed by the sudden awkward silence, spoke again, "Right, Dunkle Sans?" she almost sounded as though she was scolding him. I would have laughed if I wasn't so embarrassed.

He cleared his **(non-existent)** throat and let his face break into a lazy grin,

"Yeah, kid. It was really great."

_Holy fucking christ what do I do? Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn_

I stood frozen and felt my face grow even hotter. Frisk seemed to notice, so she tugged on my shirt,

"Yin?"

I snapped out of my stupor and looked at the child,

"Yeah, Frisky?"

"We have more pancakes to cook."

"Right you are. Okay, let's get back to it. Um, morning Sans... and thanks." I directed the last part at the skeleton still standing in the doorway, watching us with a grin on face.

Upon being addressed, he was brought back to his senses and let the grin drop from his face as blue colour leaked its way onto his cheeks once more,

"Don't mention it." He mumbled sheepishly. I let a genuine smile spread across my face at his response and let out a small happy hum before returning to the task at hand.

_Haha! I was expecting him to glare or just ignore me, but nope! Fuck yeah! Progress!_

Not two minutes later I was finishing up the last few pancakes when Papyrus stormed cheerfully into the room.

"GOOD MORNING HUMAN AND TALLER HUMAN!" His loud voice flooded the room. Upon hearing him, I finished my task and spun around to greet him,

"Good morning Paps! How did you sleep?" I asked, feeling happier by him just walking into to room. Before he could answer my question, he crouched down and as if on cue, Frisk ran into his arms in a hug.

I giggled at their seemingly practiced custom.

"I SLEPT WELL, THANK YOU TALLER HUMAN." Replied Papyrus once he had Frisk sitting on his hip comfortably.

"Oh right!" I exclaimed, remembering I hadn't properly introduced myself to most of the monsters in the house, "I'm sorry Paps, I should have done this much sooner. My name is Yin. Yin (L/N). Call me whatever you want to though." I shrugged and smiled at him. He returned the gesture tenfold by walking over to me and engulfing me and Frisk in a hug.

"IT'S VERY NICE TO MEET YOU YIN." He made an effort to quiet his voice since he was so close to my head. I giggled at this,

"It's very nice to meet you too, The Great Papyrus." He pulled back and looked at me with an awestruck expression,

"WOWEE! YOU USED MY FULL TITLE!" Suddenly, Frisk's voice rang out,

"Papy look! Me and Yin made pancakes with a special ingredient!" She exclaimed, pointing at the stack of warm pancakes behind me.

"WHAT'S THE SPECIAL INGREDIENT?" Papyrus looked absolutely ecstatic to see the food behind me. I shrugged with a smirk on my face,

"Guess you're gonna have to just find out when you try it, isn't that right, Frisky Bits?" I looked at Frisk, who now wore the biggest grin I had ever seen on a child.

"Yep!" She agreed, nodding excitedly.

Chuckling to myself, I turned around and began grabbing plates from the cupboard, counting out the number of mouths to feed as I grabbed each plate.

"DO YOU NEED ANY HELP, TALL- I MEAN YIN?"Asked Papyrus as he put Frisk on the ground. Turning to him, I nodded and handed him the stack of plates in one hand and the stack of pancakes in the other,

"Yes, actually. Could you be a dear and set these on the table, please?" I watched his excited nodding in response to my question and giggled when he all but sprinted away to complete his task.

Frisk tugged on my sleeve,

"I wanna help too, Yin!" She exclaimed.

"Sure, Frisky. Can you go get some forks and knives..." I trailed off realizing that letting Frisk around knives could be both dangerous to herself and detrimental to Sans' mental health.

_I wonder how many resets they've been through. It can't be the first timeline because he knows about Chara and his response to me holding the pocket knife was that of someone who's lived through the genocide run. I'll need to ask Sans about that._

"I... actually Frisk, can you get the whipped cream from the fridge instead?" I asked nervously.

She seemed to understand why I had changed my mind and nodded enthusiastically before bouncing over to the fridge. I let out a sigh before going to grab the utensils myself, but in the process of grabbing an assortment of silverware, I felt eyes on my back.

I turned to see nothing out of the ordinary at first glance. Scanning the room, I took note of what I saw. Papyrus putting plates on the table. Frisk happily grabbing whipped cream out of the fridge. Then I noticed Sans leaning against the wall by the entrance to the kitchen. He was staring at me almost expressionless, watching my every movement. It seemed that after me speaking to Papyrus, he let his slight carefree attitude he had towards me from before slip away.

I shot him a questioning glance and watched his gaze flicker to the handful of dull metal butterknives in my hands before training back on my face. I furrowed my brow and stared at the knives in my hands, trying to come up with a solution. Slowly, I placed the butterknives back in the drawer and placed the forks on the countertop.

Just then, an idea popped into my head and I opened another drawer that contained an old pack of flimsy plastic party knives. I grabbed the box and began walking over to Sans with them in my hands. As I got closer, he tensed up slightly but didn't make an effort to move. Now it was his turn to shoot me a confused glare.

I stopped a few feet away from him and held out the box,

"Are these better?" I softly asked as he pulled a single white knife out of the box and inspected it, "I figured the metal ones made you nervous. Cause y'know..." I trailed off, waiting for his response.

I was expecting an angry scoff or something, thinking I made it weird explaining myself and reminding him of my knowledge about the resets, but to my absolute surprise, he let out a quiet chuckle.

"You're the weirdest fucking chick, you know that? Way too observant for your own good." He told me, amused. I looked at him in complete shock and before I could sputter out a response, he shrugged, "Yeah, these are fine. Don't think you could hurt a fly with these if you tried." He studied my face as I blinked in surprise.

_What kind of flip-of-the-coin shit...? I really can't get a firm grasp on this guy._

My face contorted into a confused expression, before deciding that I was just happy he was being nice. I let myself relax and a chuckle of my own escaped my lips,

"Y'know what Sans? You're moody as fuck, but I think we're gonna be rad friends." I shot him a cheerful smile before turning around and bringing the utensils to the table.

What I didn't see was the genuine smile plastered on his face as he watched me walk away.


	9. Sans: So She Sings, Huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is a big ol' sap.

For the first time in forever, I woke up in a peaceful, brightly lit room. I felt calm, comfortable, and well rested. I would be lying if I said it didn't scare the shit outta me.

For a brief moment, I panicked. Like, full-blown heavy breathing and sitting up so abruptly I had to put my hands on the mattress to stop myself from falling forward. Then I remembered yesterdays events. Leaving the underground, meeting Yin, going to bed, then the whole nightmare fiasco.

The air mattress under me had deflated slightly from the night, making it seem like I was sinking into the warm fabric, especially now that I was in a sitting position. I was tempted to simply go back to bed, but the combination of the bright light and quiet talking coming from the kitchen prevented me from doing so.

I looked over to the couch and realized Yin was nowhere to be found.

_She's probably in the kitchen. But who is she talking to?_

Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I decided to go to the kitchen and find out. As I got closer to the doorway, I was able to make out who was talking. Sounded like Yin and the kid.

"Wow, Frisky, you're real good at this. Do you bake a lot?" I couldn't help but notice how motherly she sounded when she talked to the kid.

"Yep! I make Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie with Mom all the time!"

My mouth watered at the thought of Tori's butterscotch cinnamon pie. I hadn't gotten to have a slice for such a long time, but it was my favourite dessert. Maybe even above ketchup flavoured cake.

"Okay, you have to promise me that you won't touch the stove and that you'll be extra careful during this part. I can't have you getting hurt." Yin's voice was still sweet and motherly, but now it held an air of authority to it.

_The stove, huh? Are they making breakfast?_

I finally got to the doorway and saw Frisk and Yin standing by the stove.

Yin was wearing a pair of loose-fitting PJ pants and a long sleeve matching shirt. Her hair was messy from sleeping and it hung loosely around her shoulders. I couldn't help but admire how natural it looked... until I forcefully looked away. Totally wasn't checking her out. Nope. It's uhhhhh cause I'm a skeleton. Yep. I don't have hair so... Anyway!

From the looks of the bowl of batter and the frying pan on the stove, they were making pancakes. Mmm. Considering Paps favourite thing to eat for breakfast is spaghetti, I was pretty elated about that.

Suddenly, I heard a sound that quite literally made my breath stop in my throat and my soul do little somersaults in my chest.

Yin was singing. And not only that, but her soul was harmonizing with her voice. I couldn't describe how it sounded if I tried. Not well anyway. Her soul just had this quality about it that screamed hope and her voice matched it so perfectly. 

_Stars..._

I didn't even feel my face heat up as my magic rushed to my cheeks, but I knew it was happening. You can't just stand there slackjawed, completely mesmerized by a girl singing and not blush profusely. It's just not possible. **(Speaking from experience here.)**

Once again I wondered why her soul's humming seemed so loud to me. I would have pondered that question a little bit more, but as it turns out, comprehensive thought is nearly impossible when you are stuck in a singing-girl-induced trance. 

So I was left to simply accept how utterly helpless I was in that moment. Frankly, I didn't mind, but there was a minuscule part of me still screaming not to trust her. Telling me that she could still be dangerous; that one night of kindness doesn't equate to a good person. I decided to ignore that part of me for a moment and just enjoy the content look on Yin's face. 

Eventually, her song came to an end. 

"What song was that?" Frisk asked. 

I managed to catch the sweet smile Yin had on her face as she gave Frisk a hug. 

"It's a song my mom used to sing to me when we'd cook together when I was really little like you. Of course, my voice isn't as pretty as hers, but I thought it'd be nice to sing it to you." 

_Not as pretty as hers??? Is your mother a siren or something? How?!_

Frisk seemed to share my sentiment. 

"I think your voice is really pretty! Right, Dunkle Sans?" 

Well I mean, until that part. 

Fucking hell, if I wasn't frozen before, I was now. Slowly, Yin turned to look at me standing in the doorway in all of my blue-faced glory. At the sight of me, a blush of her own rose to her face in embarrassment. 

_Oh stars! Okay just act normal! Act like you weren't just checking her out-WHICH YOU WERE NOT! You were just being inquisitive._

"Right, Dunkle Sans?" Frisk chimed in. No, not chimed in. Scolded. 

_Oh my god, I am gonna kill that kid._

So I did what I do best. Hiding all of my emotions and putting on a cool exterior. I cleared my throat, shoved my hands in my hoodie pocket, and let my signature grin rest comfortably on my face as I moved to lean on the wall. 

"Yeah, kid. It was really great." I replied, silently willing the warmth on my face to dissipate. 

Though it was very hard when Yin was staring at me with that wide-eyed deer in the headlights look. We were stuck in a near staring contest before Frisk helpfully stepped in. 

"Yin?" 

She turned her attention to Frisk. 

"Yeah, Frisky?" 

"We have more pancakes to cook." 

"Right you are. Okay, let's get back to it. Um, morning Sans... and thanks." 

Upon being addressed, I realized that I was still staring at her with my smile pasted on my face. I let it drop and felt the warmth creep back onto my cheekbones sheepishly. 

"Don't mention it," I mumbled, avoiding eye contact. 

_Good god, me. Really nailed the whole "don't be creepy" thing. Stars._

To my surprise, Yin smiled brightly at me and let out a happy little hum thing that made me very very aware of my soul suddenly doing acrobatics inside of my chest, before turning around and focusing on Frisk. 

_Oh. I guess she doesn't mind then. Okay_. 

I turned around and sat down on the couch, needing to think. 

_Y'know, maybe I don't really need to be so cautious of Yin. It's not like she's the one who essentially put the entire underground on hold for god knows how long. That was the kid. And then that little demon bitch, but it started with Frisk. Yin is just some chick who played a videogame and is maybe a little too hospitable. Or maybe she just has a soft spot for us. Either way, it seems clear that she worries about us if her terrified rant or her late night phone call is anything to go off of. Besides, I have a bunch of questions that she has the answers to; I'd like to stick around long enough to discuss them at the very least._

Just then, the sound of heavy footfalls lumbering down the staircase snapped me out of my thoughts. It seemed Papyrus had woken up for the day. 

_Nevermind, I remember exactly why I'm so cautious about Yin. I won't lose Papyrus again. Not if I can help it._

He smiled at me enthusiastically as soon as he caught sight of my relaxed form, 

"GOOD MORNING, SANS! IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU AWAKE SO EARLY IN THE MORNING; HOW DID YOU SLEEP?" 

I chuckled and let my signature grin plaster itself onto my face, 

"Well, first I started by laying down-" 

"SANS PLEASE DO NOT START THE DAY WITH THESE JAPES! " 

I laughed at his reaction, but put my hands up in mock defence, 

"Sorry, bro." 

He smiled, proud he got me to back off and marched into the kitchen. I followed him and took up my previous spot leaning on the wall as I observed. 

"GOOD MORNING HUMAN AND TALLER HUMAN!" 

They spun around to greet him. 

Yin smiled. 

"Good morning Paps! How did you sleep?" She replied cheerfully. 

Frisk, on the other hand, sprinted at him full force with her arms outstretched. Paps crouched down to meet her and in one fell swoop, brought her back up and rested her on his hip. 

Yin giggled in response to the routine they had practiced for hours. 

"I SLEPT WELL, THANK YOU TALLER HUMAN." 

"Oh right!" Exclaimed Yin, seemingly just now remembering something. She let her face fall into an embarrassed and apologetic grin, "I'm sorry Paps, I should have done this much sooner. My name is Yin. Yin (L/N). Call me whatever you want to though." 

Par for the course, Papyrus beamed and walked over to her to engulf her in a (heh) 'bone crushing' hug. 

She giggled again, 

"It's very nice to meet you too, The Great Papyrus." 

_Aww, he's gonna love that._

As predicted, Papyrus pulled away with an awestruck expression, 

"WOWEE! YOU USED MY FULL TITLE!" 

I had the give the girl some credit; even at full volume, she didn't flinch when Papyrus yelled happily. 

Suddenly, Frisk spoke up. 

"Papy look! Me and Yin made pancakes with a special ingredient!" 

Just now realizing that there was food on the counter, Papyrus' face absolutely lit up. He stared at that food ecstatically. 

"WHAT'S THE SPECIAL INGREDIENT?" 

"Guess you're gonna have to just find out when you try it, isn't that right, Frisky Bits?" Yin shrugged as Frisk exploded in excitement again, 

"Yep!" 

With a soft chuckle, Yin turned around and opened a cupboard only to start pulling out plates. 

"DO YOU NEED ANY HELP, TALL- I MEAN YIN?" Asked Papyrus as he carefully placed Frisk on the floor. 

She turned around and handed him the stack of plates and the stack of pancakes, 

"Yes, actually. Could you be a dear and set these on the table, please?" 

She smiled for a moment as he all but sprinted to the table to do his job. 

I watched as Frisk tugged on her shirt, 

"I wanna help too, Yin!" She exclaimed. 

"Sure, Frisky. Can you go get some forks and knives..." I tensed at the word. Yin seemed to also put a second thought into her words because she trailed off and gripped her sleeve suddenly, staring at Frisk's excited expression. After a moment or so, she shook off whatever thought process she was stuck in and gave Frisk an apologetic smile, "I... actually Frisk, can you get the whipped cream from the fridge instead?" Her voice wavered slightly as if the mental image is Frisk holding a knife made her just as nervous as it made me. 

Whether Frisk understood the reasoning behind Yin's sudden change in heart or she just didn't care, she nodded happily and ran to the fridge. 

Yin's shoulders drooped slightly as she let out a sigh and shook her head. 

I watched intently as she spun around to open a drawer and grab the silverware herself. While I wasn't comfortable with the idea of the kid with a knife, nevermind a handful of knives, I wasn't exactly comforted by the idea of Yin holding any number of knives either. She grabbed and counted out the number of utensils before turning around and scanning the room confusedly. 

Her eyes drifted around until they finally landed on me. 

_Oh. I didn't expect her to feel me staring._

We kept eye contact for a few moments as I tried to keep my expression fairly neutral. She furrowed her eyebrows in a silent question. One that I responded by letting my gaze flicker down to the potential weapons in her hands. I didn't know what I wanted her to do about it, but I did know I didn't like those knives. 

She parted her lips in understanding and furrowed her eyebrows further as she stared at her hands. Her gaze flicked up to meet my own for a split second before she spun on her heel and put the knives back in the drawer and the forks on the countertop. I watched with interest as she opened another drawer and pulled out a bright yellow box. 

The determined expression she wore when she marched over to me was enough to make me tense up, but I stayed put in order to see what she was going to do with the box. As she got closer, I was able to make out the words 'plastic knives' written in bold black lettering on the box. 

She held out the box, 

"Are these better?" Her tone of voice took me back for a moment. It was soft and unsure. Absolutely not the abrasive tone I would have guessed for someone that had been wearing such a determined expression moments before. It almost sounded scared, like she was asking for approval. 

Something about that brought me comfort. 

So I reached into the box and grabbed a hold of one of the flimsy white plastic knives. Running my fingertip over the edge, I discovered the extreme lack of sharpness. Sure, if someone REALLY wanted to hurt a monster with these, they could bring down a little bit of their HP, but not enough to kill them. 

"I figured the metal ones made you nervous. Cause y'know..." She trailed off, nervously waiting for my opinion on the knives. 

_Yeah, no, I'm pretty sure I have nothing to worry about with this girl. She's kind, transparent, and she's even been careful and apologetic anytime the subject of knives came up. Even going so far as to prevent Frisk from touching a wildly known harmless knife without even knowing I was in the room. Damn._

I let out a quiet chuckle at my realization and handed Yin back the plastic. 

"You're the weirdest fucking chick, you know that? Way too observant for your own good." I told her, amused. She looked at me in complete shock and before she could sputter out a response, I shrugged, "Yeah, these are fine. Don't think you could hurt a fly with these if you tried." 

That was a lie, but she doesn't need to know that. 

Her eyes widened and she blinked at me owlishly for a few moments before her expression contorted into one of confusion. It only stayed that way for a moment before she seemed to accept whatever turmoil she had bottled up. She relaxed, going so far as to let out a relieved chuckle. 

"Y'know what Sans? You're moody as fuck, but I think we're gonna be rad friends." 

And with that, she spun around again and started off to place the newly approved silverware on the table. A genuine smile spread across my face, something that she seemed to be able to elicit from me a lot. 

_Yeah. Me too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like writing Sans chapters. I dunno, it's just easier to write. Also, his internal struggle regarding Yin is beyond entertaining.


	10. Yin: Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys knows what's up.

Everyone had woken up and sleepily greeted each other before settling into empty chairs at the table and serving themselves pancakes. Sans sat beside me on my left at the end of the table. Beside him was Papyrus, then Mettaton. Beside Mettaton sat Toriel with Frisk on her lap and Asgore at the end opposite to Sans. On my right was Undyne directly beside me, then Alphys between her and Asgore. We had fallen into comfortable chatter rather quickly.

"This is pretty good punk, but I gotta teach you how to cook like a warrior! I mean look at this place! Not even a speck of food on the ceiling! Have you no passion, woman?" Undyne yelled after eating approximately half a pancake. I giggled at her outburst before responding,

"Actually I'd prefer to keep my workspace fairly clean, Undyne. Consider it quiet passion. I wouldn't object to cooking with you as long as you promised to help clean up the mess afterwards, though." I offered. Her signature toothy grin widened,

"You got it punk! We're gonna make the most passionate meal you've ever seen!" 

After that, she and Papyrus fell into a conversation about training techniques and I quietly half listened as I continued eating my breakfast. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sans' annoyed face as syrup from the bit of pancake on his fork dripped down his hand bones. I suppressed a giggle as he grumbled quietly and put the fork down oh his plate.

What I saw next made me fall out of my chair. Literally.

Sans had brought his hand up to his face and licked the syrup off his bones. That alone isn't what surprised me. I figured he had a tongue, especially after Alphys explained magic mimicking organs and junk the night before. No, what surprised me was the appearance of his tongue. It was longer and slightly pointier than I had thought, but it was blue. And not only that. It glowed blue and left a bright flourecent blue trail behind on his hand.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, falling out of the chair. Before anyone, including myself, could register what was going on, I was lying on the ground with my legs tangled in the chair that had fallen over with me.

I was met with a chorus of worried and amused exclamations ranging from asking if I was okay to loudly guffawing at what I was sure was a hilarious scene. I sat up suddenly, my legs still entwined in the chair, and pointed at Sans accusingly,

"Your tongue glows! I figured you had one, and that it would be blue, but it glows! Why-? How-?" I let out a bewildered huff and looked at him incredulously.

He only laughed harder at my confusion and surprise. 

Seeing as I wasn't injured, anyone still worried about me broke into laughter at my antics. I felt my face warm up and puffed out my cheeks, embarrassed. Rolling my eyes, I untangled myself and stood my chair back up to its original position before taking another seat. I chuckled, still very much aware of the red colour that adorned my features, and waited for Sans to finish his fit.

"Mmmmmagic!" He finally choked out, barely able to catch his breath.

He doesn't even have lungs what the fuck?

I let out a pained sound at his answer,

"Magic?! But that's the most unsatisfying answer ever! Isn't there some complicated sciency explanation?" I whined. He smirked at me and shrugged before being thrown back into a laughing fit once he looked at my face,

"You look like a cherry!" He gasped. This, of course, made my face heat up even more as I let my mouth hang open, offended,

"Okay, Mr. Glowey tongue! At least I don't look like a blueberry!" I retorted. He stopped and copied my expression for a moment before narrowing his eye sockets and scoffing,

"That was a low blow, kid. I do not look like a blueberry." He insisted as an embarrassed and slightly angry blush of his own crept on to his cheekbones. I laughed at the irony,

"Ya do now!" I replied triumphantly.

Unfortunately, my moment of triumph was cut short when Mettaton's voice carried over the quiet chuckling of the group,

"Alright, enough flirting during breakfast you two~!" He teased, raising his eyebrows repeatedly and looking between the two of us.

Our heads snapped towards him as Sans glared at the offending robot,

"Flirting?!" I sputtered. 

It was then I noticed the excited look on Alphys' face. Her eyes were glazed over with excitement as she looked between Sans and I. It barely took me a moment to register what was going on in her head before I quickly shut down her train of thought,

"Alphys no! There will be no shipping at the breakfast table! Especially ships involving me!" I pointed at her and tried to sound firm, but failed miserably. 

She snapped back to reality and looked at me nervously,

"H-how did you know?" She asked

I rolled my eyes and waved my hand,

"What? Did you think I just casually knew about the havoc fangirls are capable of causing? The word fandom is not something just anyone is familiar with. You just did the thing, and as much as you want to ship it, for the love of god, don't."

Recognition flashed across her features as the rest of the table sat confused. She shot me a sly smirk,

"Are you a fanart or fanfiction type of fangirl?" She asked. Her voice was alarmingly confident.

"If you promise not to include me in any ships I'll show you later," I responded, raising an eyebrow. An excited smile spread across her face,

"I'll try!" She promised, eager to relish in the comfort of another fangirl. I smiled in return and turned back to my plate, taking another bite and letting out a contented hum.

The room was basically silent for a moment before Undyne burst out, 

"Am I the only one who has no clue what the heck just happened?" She exclaimed, annoyed to be missing out on the understanding Alphys and I had just shared.

"I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JUST HAPPENED," Papyrus added, followed by murmurs from everyone else agreeing. 

Alphys and I glanced at each other nervously and shook our heads, agreeing to keep out double lives a secret.

"Don't worry about it, dudes." I shrugged, not giving any other information. Before anyone could protest, I turned to Asgore, "Anyway. So, your Majesty-"

I was cut off,

"Please don't address me so formally! Asgore is fine, Yin." He frantically cut in. I gave him a reassuring smile before continuing,

"Alright. So, Asgore, what is the game plan? Cause it seems that only you guys are on the surface?" I questioned, knowing that if the monsters were really roaming around, I would have heard about it.

"Well, when the Barrier was broken, we agreed it would be safer to send out a scouting team of our most powerful monsters to make sure after all this time, it's safe for us to return. Obviously, we are that scouting team. We decided to give the team a week to scope out the area and if they failed to return, they were presumed dead and the above ground was to be deemed fatal until further notice." He explained before furrowing his brows, "However, we never imagined this possibility..." He trailed off, obviously worried about future events.

"About that," I began, catching the complete attention of every soul in the room, "I figured a good place to start fixing this mess is to gather as much information as possible, so I have scheduled a meeting with the alleged creator of, well, you guys. I don't know if he had malicious intent behind his actions, or if this is all just some freak accident, but if he does turn out to be malicious, I figure he would refuse to speak with us. I would like to know your thoughts on the possibility of him coming here so that you guys could confront him yourselves and possibly staying a secret for the two days until that meeting. I, of course, am in no way forcing you guys to stay here, it's just a suggestion!" I frantically tacked on the last part, slightly shifting uncomfortably at so many pairs of eyes on me.

"You want us to do what?" Undyne looked at me as if I had an extra arm as I guiltily hung my head, worried I had overstepped a boundary.

"I-I'm sorry, I realize its awful of me to-to even ask-" My apology was cut short.

"It would make sense," Sans replied, earning a few confused stares, (including one of my own) which he shrugged off, "If this guy did something wrong on purpose, chances are he's gonna run with his tail in between his legs once he realizes he was caught. If he doesn't know the barrier was broken, we can corner him and get some closure. Also if this guy sold us out, I wanna give him a good punch in the jaw."

_Wait, no Sans, you stole my thing. I was gonna do that. Also, wow, did not expect you to agree with me on this one._

"Yeah!" Piped up Frisk, "Besides, I wanna stay with Yin for a while longer..." She trailed off and puffed out her cheeks, earning a soft giggle from me.

"IF SANS THINKS IT'S A GOOD IDEA, THEN I DO TOO." Agreed Papyrus.

A chorus of positive murmurs broke out which led Undyne to sigh in defeat,

"I can't argue with that logic, now can I? Alright, I'm in." 

"Well then," Asgore spoke up, "Let's hold it to a vote. All in favour of Yin's plan, raise your hand."

I everyone, except me of course, raised their hand. This didn't really concern me, so I stayed out of it and let everyone else vote. Not everyone shared my train of thought it seemed as I was met with confused stares,

"Backing out on yer own plan or somethin', punk?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. I pursed my lips,

"I, of course not. I just didn't think I got a vote..." I admitted. Toriel gasped,

"My child, why not?" 

"Well, I mean at the end of the day, this isn't really about me," I explained, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.

"It is now, darling~" Mettaton replied.

"Yeah, punk. Now you gotta deal with us whether you like it or not." She clapped a firm hand on my back and grinned at me toothily. 

I felt warm and comforted. Despite only have met me yesterday, these monsters have seen enough good in me to allow me to stick around their family. This was a feeling I wasn't especially used to as I had never had that big of a friend group. Don't get me wrong, I had friends growing up and I wasn't bullied harshly, but I had always been sort of a loner that didn't completely fit in. I let a happy grin spread across my face, not even making an effort to hide my delight,

"I guess it's unanimous then."


	11. Yin: Canon Means Nothing Apparently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's have a chat with Alphys

After breakfast, I began cleaning off the table and wanted to start the dishes, but was quickly stopped by Toriel.

"Oh no, you don't. You cooked, I clean my dear. Go on now, I got this." She told me, basically pushing me away from the sink and out the kitchen. I scrunched up my face in confusion,

"Wait, no hold on. You're the guest, you can't clean after everyone." I protested, aware of her fluffy paws on my shoulders as she led me out of the room.

"Nonsense! You've done quite enough already. I'm doing this." She chided me. I idly recognized that she sounded like she was talking to a child and wondered if she did it consciously or if it was just instinct.

"But-" I barely had time to utter one word before she had completely pushed me out of the doorway and was already treading back to the sink to finish the job.

I raised a finger and opened my mouth to protest once more, but realized it wouldn't do any good.

"I guess I'm going to relax out here then..." I mumbled, lowering my hand.

By now everyone had migrated to the living room and taken a seat either on a piece of furniture, or the floor. They were either watching the tv that had been turned on or was on their phones. 

_Oh right. Aren't their phones equipped with insane features like interdimensional boxes and shit? I wonder if their tech is capable of connecting to our wifi. Cause they had the Undernet, but that's not the same, is it?_

I pondered what I knew about phones in the underground for a few moments more before deciding to just ask about it.

"Hey, do you guys have wifi in the Underground?" I asked, crossing my arms against the back of the couch and leaning over it.

"Why of course darling. How else would my adoring fans follow me on the Undernet~?" Mettaton answered, posing dramatically. I giggled quietly at his pose before responding,

"Well, I only asked because I wanted to see if you thought your phones would be able to connect to our wifi up here." I shrugged.

As soon as I said that Frisk came barreling towards me. She climbed onto the empty spot on the couch that I was leaning over and pulled her phone out of her pocket so quickly she would have headbutted me if I hadn't stepped back in surprise.

"Do mine, do mine!" she bounced on the cushion excitedly as she thrust her phone towards me repeatedly, waiting for me to take it. 

Her phone was slightly bulky, but it appeared to be a fairly durable smartphone complete with a headphone jack. 

I took it and pulled my own phone out so I could type in the wifi password I had saved in notes.

"I-It should work," Alphys piped up, "B-because a lot of o-our tech is b-based off stuff we f-find in the dump." She reasoned. 

I managed to navigate my way into the settings on Frisk's phone at this point and found that everything was pretty straightforward. I went to the wifi tab and found mine, then typed in the password and waited for a few seconds for it to either to confirm or deny.

Once the phone said connected, I raised my eyebrows in muted surprise,

"Wow, you were right. Alright, I'll write down the passcode so you guys can do it too."

After handing back the phone to Frisk, I grabbed a notebook and messily scrawled the password on a blank page.

"Okay so I don't want you to feel like I'm telling you what to do, but be so very careful if you choose to look yourselves up. Humans are creepy horndogs and you might see things that will scar you for life if you fall too deep down a rabbit hole. That being said, I recommend full supervision of the innocent ones. Consider yourselves warned." My speech was met with mostly raised eyebrows of skepticism.

"It can't possibly be that bad." Replied Asgore.

"YES I AGREE. I'M SURE YOU'RE MAKING IT OUT TO BE MUCH WORSE THAN IT ACTUALLY IS." Papyrus nodded, smiling.

I grimaced and noticed Alphys do the same,

"Um, okay how do I explain this to you?" I bit my lip and looked to Alphys for help before getting an idea. "Oh! Okay, Undyne? What would you do if you met your favourite anime character in real life?"

I watched as her eyes lit up at the very prospect,

"Fuhuhu! Well, of course, I'd challenge them to a duel!" She clenched her fist and posed heroically. 

I nodded,

"Uh huh. And what do you think Alphys would do? Take that and times it by 100." I gestured to the lizard in question who shrunk into herself at being mentioned. 

"Well she'd... oh." Undyne's heroic demeanor faded as she thought about it, "I see what you're talking about. Yeah, no she's right. " She turned to Asgore and agreed with me.

"If you say so..." He furrowed his eyebrows.

Wanting to get rid of the tense and awkward atmosphere, I cleared my throat and turned to Sans, who was sitting on the couch watching tv,

"So what are you watching?" I asked, not recognizing the show playing.

He shrugged,

"No clue. It's not really good though." 

I hummed,

"I have something you might like if you want me to put it on." 

"Yeah, sure."

I picked up the controller for the tv and started up Netflix, set on putting on the one show I've never seen anyone hate. Friends.

Once I had it up and running, I decided it would be best to fulfil my promise to Alphys sooner rather than later and walked over to her and Undyne who were sitting close together on the floor.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow your girlfriend for a bit. We've got a lot to talk about." I told Undyne.

Now, this is Undyne. As such, I was expecting a snarky comment, a heroic pose, her teasing Alphys, or even a combo of the three, but I did not expect her face to erupt in pink and the once brave and cocky royal guardsmen to be reduced to a blushy stuttering, mess. Alphys was in a similar condition, but that's not entirely out of character for her.

_Woah, hey, what did I say?_

Everyone else in the room noticed what was happening and as I looked around, I was met with knowing smiles. My face scrunched up in confusion.

"I... what? Did I say something wrong?" I asked, looking around helplessly.

Undyne tried to compose herself but was barely able to choke out a few syllables.

A deep chuckle came from the couch,

"They're not dating, bud." Sans supplied.

I turned back to the two furiously blushing girls,

"But..."

_But it's canon, what the fuck?_

"Okay then, nevermind. I need to borrow your perfectly regular friend for a few minutes. Alphys we have much more to talk about than I had originally thought." 

I held a hand out to help Alphys up.

"Sorry about the mishap."

She took it and let me drag her up the stairs and to my room. I closed the door quietly behind us and leaned against it for support. Alphys was still a blushing mess as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. 

"I don't understand. Everything else was right, how is this not?" I mumbled.

"W-well h-how could s-someone as c-cool as Un-und- her like me? I-I'm such a m-mess." She sadly answered my question.

"Alphys you don't understand." I looked her in the eyes seriously, "First of all, that's ridiculous. The very thought that you two could be dating flustered her so much, she couldn't even tell me off. Secondly, that's not what I'm talking about. You guys are canon, Alphys. Near the end of the game, Undyne gives Frisk a confession letter to deliver to you and there's this big mishap that end ups with you confessing your feelings. Do you realize what that means?" I explained, worriedly furrowing my eyebrows.

Any amount of blush that had gone down on Alphys' face was back at full force upon hearing that. She squeaked in embarrassment and attempted to cover both the red blush and the prideful smile that seemed to be etched into her features. I let her revel in this information for a few seconds while I collected my thoughts.

_If this was wrong, what else is false information? I wonder if Toby experienced the underground before and just added that scene for more run time and fanservice. But if he had experienced the underground, wouldn't they know about it? He would have had to be Frisk in another timeline to have been able to put that much detail into the game. I wonder how many headcanons are actually real then?_

_Take Sans for example. He has a tongue that was not mentioned in the actual game but is there. Wait if he has a tongue, does he also have a dick? Does Sans fuck? Ah! No! Don't think about that right now, Alphys is freaking out over there!_

I shook my head a little bit and tried my best to stop a faint blush appear at the thought. Seeing as Alphys was staring off into space, I cleared my throat,

"If this one canon thing was not canon, how many headcanons are? My and the rest of the worlds knowledge about you guys is much more approximate. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. " I told her truthfully, "It might be better, actually. You guys would be more like celebrities instead of characters that people know every personal detail about." I smiled, feeling slightly better about the whole thing.

"O-oh! That's good! M-maybe we can have n-normal lives u-up here a-after all! W-we can do normal t-things like o-own houses a-and date." At the word date, she pointedly narrowed her eyes at me.

I gasped,

"Alphys no you promised!" I exclaimed. 

"N-no I said I-I'd try! Besides, I-I can't help it! You guys a-are too cute for each other." She shot back.

"Come on Alph. I met the guy yesterday and he stopped hating my guts this morning."

"Y-yeah, but how many f-fanstuff have you done involving h-him? Fanfics, fanart, s-ships? Not even one xreader i-in there?" She teased.

I threw my hands up, desperately hoping to distract from the blush that had appeared on my face.

"Anyway! Let's get to what I had originally dragged you up here for, my dark and cringy past life as an Undertale fangirl."

I walked over to my closet with one thing in mind. My old sketchbooks.

"First of all, I left the fandom years ago. I am a different person now and you can't judge me on what I did back then, okay?" I asked, turning to face her briefly.

"O-of course! Don't worry, I-I had awkward phases t-too." She replied.

I dug around in the dark closet before finally finding the box that held my younger self's drawings. It was an old shoebox that I had tucked in the back of my closet.

I sat on my bed beside Alphys and tried not to think about what I was going to resurface. She was looking at the box excitedly.

_Wow, I am so glad I was a little pussy back then. If I wasn't so afraid of Ma finding smut, this box would be full of it._

Taking a deep breath, I opened the lid and grabbed the first thing on top. It was a binder with the words, 'CAUTION! CRINGY ART INSIDE!' written on the front cover.

I giggled at the memory of decorating the binder,

"Wow, what I dramatic little shit I was. Okay, let's see what we've got." 

After about ten minutes of looking like I had just eaten a lemon while Alphys laughed, we were finally done with the box.

"Oh thank god that's over." I sighed. 

"Sure were a lot of d-drawings of different Sanses," Alphys commented, smiling smugly.

I narrowed my eyes before putting the box back securely,

"Uh huh. He was my favorite character." 

"Because you had a crush on him?" I could hear the shit eating grin she had plastered on her face.

"I was 13!" I exclaimed, before letting a sly smirk crawl onto my face, "Besides. I read a lot of Alphys x Readers too, y'know."

Her grin was wiped off of her face instantly, a furious blush taking her face,

"W-w-what!?" 

"Yeah. Those were actually part of the reason I realized I was pan." I smiled, remembering my younger self's turmoil back when I was in the closet.

Upon realizing how embarrassed that made Alphys, I put a hand on her shoulder,

"Hey. Don't worry about it. As I said, I was 13. Now, to cheer you up, I would show you old fanfiction I wrote, but I deleted that years ago. So how about we look up fanart instead? I guarantee there will be a few of a certain fish girl looking heroic as fuck." I nudged her slightly, an apologetic smile on my face.

She looked at me for a moment,

"O-only if you t-tell me what your f-fanfiction was about." She let the shit eating grin return.

I sighed, knowing there was no way around telling her,

"It was a Sans x Reader." I mumbled, defeated.

I swear the noise that came out of her could only be heard by dogs.


	12. Yin: Meeting Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Should I stay or should I go now~

"Toriel and I have decided to return to the underground for the night so that we can inform the rest of the monsters of our plan. We will return tomorrow, so you all may choose to stay here or come with us as you please."

We were all sitting at the kitchen table having yet another meeting. It seemed to be our headquarters. Asgore was sitting at the head of the table informing us about his decision.

"There's no way I'm letting you trek back on your own! I'm going with you for protection!" Undyne burst out.

"If U-Undyne's going, t-then so a-am I." Piped up Alphys. It surprised me to see that the two weren't even slightly awkward or hesitant around each other after what happened earlier. It made me smile softly.

"I'll go back as well. I can't imagine how worried my fans are about me~" Mettaton purred. His statement, which I admit was a little show-offish, made Sans scrunch his face up in disgust for only a second before going back to normal.

_Wow, he must really hate that Metta is dating Paps._

"I wanna stay!" Frisk spoke cheerfully.

Toriel looked shocked at her for a second or two before her expression turned worrisome and guilty. I knew she wanted to say no, but Frisk looked so excited, Toriel was being eaten away by conflict. I knew I had to step in.

"My child..." She began her answer, but before she could continue her speech, I spoke up.

"I wouldn't mind." I was met with eight pairs of slightly surprised eyes, "I mean, Frisk is an absolute sweetheart and I'm sure we'd be fine for one night. If you want, that is." I doubted what I was saying for a second and quickly felt my face dust with a light blush.

To my surprise, Toriel's worried expression shifted more motherly and relieved,

"Thank you, my dear. If you are sure, then I would really appreciate it." I felt myself relax at her approval.

"Yeah, we'll make brownies and have a movie night or something. It'll be a blast. I promise you've got nothing to worry about."

"Yay!" Frisk was bouncing with excitement at the promise of brownies.

"'Tibia' honest I'm not telling a 'fibula', but that sounds like a 'bone good' time. Imma stay back too and help with the kid. They're not always as easy to look after as they seem." Sans spoke loosely, but his posture looked tense.

_That comment, I wonder if he's remembering the genocide route. Or he's just waiting for Papyrus to burst out at his puns._

Despite my thoughts, I burst out into a fit of giggles at his puns, as did many others at the table (mainly Toriel). Undyne simply glared.

Frisk stuck her tongue out at his comment and, as expected, Papyrus let out an irritated sound,

"SANS! WE'RE HAVING A SERIOUS MEETING! DO NOT PLAGUE IT WITH YOUR INCESSANT PUNS!"

"Sorry, you didn't find that 'humerus', bro. The conversation seemed a little 'bone dry' and I thought I'd try to tickle your 'funny bone'."

"NYEHHHHH!"

"NYAAA Shut up Sans!" Undyne yelled

I was thrown into a full on laughing fit by the combination of the puns and their antics. Toriel and Frisk weren't doing much better. 

"Oh come on Undyne," I gasped out, "It's no'fin' to get mad about." I tried my best to shoot her a shit-eating grin but found I was laughing too hard to do so properly.

She glared at me, speechless. If I had been looking at Sans, I would have seen the slight blush on his cheekbones. I let her silence egg me on,

"What? 'Catfish' got your tongue? Did the puns 'krill' ya? You need a 'sturgeon' or something?" It got to the point where I couldn't speak anymore, I was laughing so hard. Tears were just streaming out of my face and I was clutching my stomach from the pressure. Thankfully, I couldn't say anymore if I wanted to because Papyrus and Undyne were shouting profanities. Well, Undyne was. Papyrus was saying something along the lines of,

"WHY! SANS, YOU HAVE CORRUPTED THE HUMAN WITH YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS! LOOK AT HER! SHE'S CRYING NOW!"

I could only barely hear Sans mumble a "Holy shit" over the sound of my laughing. 

_I am so fucking glad Tori and Frisk are laughing too. I would be immeasurably anxious if I was the only one laughing._

The immense pain in my abdomen forced me to calm down,

"Ow! Holy shit that hurts, oh my god!" I cried, clutching my stomach, still laughing, but not as hard.

For some reason, that turned out to be a mistake because as soon as those words left my mouth, I had Sans and Papyrus crowded around me with worried looks on their faces. The sudden shift in the atmosphere around me almost knocked me out of my chair for the second time that day. Well actually Papyrus had gotten up and was very close to me and Sans was just leaning in my direction, still on his seat.

"OH NO, HUMAN ARE YOU OKAY? WHERE ARE YOU HURT AND HOW CAN I HELP?"

"Jeez kid, what's wrong?"

_What the fuck is going on._

I was so confused, I could barely formulate actual words,

"Um, guys?" 

"SANS, CAN HUMANS INJURE THEMSELVES FROM LAUGHING TOO HARD? DID WE BREAK THE HUMAN? OH NO I'M SO SORRY, TALL HUMAN!" Wailed Papyrus. Sans' eyelights disappeared,

_Oh. Oh my god, you guys are precious. I guess neither skelebro has any knowledge about human anatomy then. Oh, this will be fun! Those were always my favourite types of fanfictions._

I wanted to laugh, but managed to refrain myself from doing so so that it didn't seem like I was making fun of them.

"Guys," I said a little louder.

"I don't think so..."

Thankfully, someone came to my rescue before I had to yell at them.

"Hey Punks!" Bellowed Undyne, effectively catching both of their attention, "The wimp is fine, look." Her voice was laced with amusement.

Slowly, they turned to see me trying to suppress a smile at how cute they were. I covered the bottom half of my face with my hands and made sure I didn't squeal,

"That was adorable, thank you." My voice sounded weird from behind my cupped hands but I could tell everyone heard it because Sans and Papyrus' faces were immediately dusted in colour and everyone else at the table smiled in agreement.

Bewildered, the skeletons looked to Alphys for an explanation. She immediately grew flustered, but quickly stuttered out an explanation to ease the worries of the two confused skeletons,

"W-When humans laugh, t-they exert e-energy and oxygen as the m-muscles in their stomach flex and c-contract as they force the a-air from their lungs. The s-strain put on their muscles will feel sore a-and achy after a while, but t-tends to heal rather quickly." She explained.

At realizing how much they overreacted, the blush on Sans and Papyrus' faces grew more intense. I tried to reassure them,

"Thank you for worrying about me though! It's not like you guys have muscles, so you wouldn't know. It was an honest mistake." I gave them a kind and thankful smile that Papyrus returned. Sans, on the other hand, was still embarrassed as he flipped his hood up and tightened the strings.

I could barely hear him mumble something about embarrassment while Papyrus posed heroically and boasted about how lucky I was to have the Great Papyrus around in case of a real emergency.

"So I take it you're staying as well then, Papyrus?" Asgore spoke, trying to take some of the attention off of their mistake.

Papyrus, being the absolute bundle of joy and energy that he is, apparently possesses not a single bit of humility in his entire body as he smiled brightly at the king and dropped the subject with no difficulty. I glanced at Sans as Papyrus agreed with Asgore. He was still bundled up and the little bit of skull I could see looked as it had been painted blue.

_Man, poor dude. If he's anything like me, he'll be regretting that decision for weeks. Maybe I can do something later to help him get his mind off of it. Some good to help balance out the bad. Or I could embarrass myself twice as much so that everyone forgets about what he did. Ugh, I think I better not. I embarrassed myself enough already today. It probably wouldn't mean anything at this point._

I snapped out of my thoughts and paid attention to what Asgore was saying before I could get accused of staring. Happens way more often than you'd think.

"I suppose that's all for now. We will leave in half an hour." He concluded. Everyone was dismissed to do as they pleased.

Humming contentedly, I pulled out my phone and checked my phone for the time. 12:30.

_Hmm, lunchtime. I should make something to send them off with. I hope sandwiches are okay._

Looking to my left, I realized Sans was still sitting awkwardly. I furrowed my eyebrows and placed my hand on his shoulder to get his attention,

"Hey, if you need a break you could spend some time on the back porch. I tend to find it relaxing especially when I'm feeling unusually anxious." I whispered, flashing a kind smile.

After jolting under my touch, he nodded and mumbled a thanks before blipping out of existence.

_Holy shit I thought that would be cool, but it's one thing to read about it and another to actually see it. Christ, that was the coolest shit. I wonder if I can convince him to teleport me someday. I wanna know what it's like._

"Rad as fuck," I mumbled before going to start on the sandwiches.

After sifting through my fridge, I decided to make BLTs for lunch. 

Preparing the meal took less time than I had thought it would. I managed to finish grilling and slicing all the ingredients after twenty minutes, which left actually assembling the sandwiches. Of course, the process went faster when around ten minutes in, Toriel walked into the kitchen and insisted she help me. With Toriel being the person she is, I couldn't refuse.

I plated four of the sandwiches and Toriel helped me put the rest of them in ziplock baggies to take along on the hike back to... Ebott? I guess? The entrance I suppose. 

Our friends were happy to see the lunch. Especially Undyne, apparently, who made a show out of swallowing the whole thing in one bite... followed by me running to the kitchen to grab a glass of water when she started choking on it.

Yeah, human food isn't made of magic. Dissolving food probably helps in eating a lot of it quickly.

Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for Frisk, Toriel's lengthy speech on behaviour was interrupted by the commotion. This had Toriel switching her disapproving motherly lectures on Undyne after she turned out fine.

I guessed that all the noise had alerted Sans, because halfway through Toriel's rant, he showed up and stood by everyone else. I shot him a questioning look that he returned with a thumbs up and his signature smile before returning to watching Toriel and an Undyne that looked like a child that got caught doing something they shouldn't have. 

I narrowed my eyes at the way his grin widened after a few moments.

_He's gonna make a pun, isn't he?_

Toriel looked as though she was running out of steam and Sans immediately pounced on that opportunity,

"Geez, Tori,"

_Here it comes._

"You're really 'whalin' on her, huh?" 

The array of reactions he received was glorious. Paps and Undyne groaned loudly, Asgore and Mettaton rolled their eyes, Alphys froze, awaiting Toriel's reaction, and Toriel burst into giggles with Frisk. I had to cover my mouth to suppress my silent laughter before I had to join in,

"Oh, I 'sea' what you did there." I giggled.

"Jesus, Alphys you were right! They are made for each other!" Undyne boomed angrily. I immediately snapped over to the little dinosaur in question,

"Alphys you promised!" I pointed accusingly. She looked as if she was torn between looking guilty and looking smug. The smug side won before she said anything.


	13. Yin: Awkward Qs And As

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aww bonding!

After basically everyone had left, you would think the house would become relatively quiet. Apparently not.

Holy shit. 

Papyrus had immediately informed me that as a thank-you and as celebration to finally get up on the surface, he would be making his (soon to be world famous) friendship spaghetti. He looked so absolutely excited about the idea, I just couldn't refuse even though I was aware of his cooking ability. Sans offered to make sure he didn't set the house on fire and I gratefully accepted. How naive of me. That left me taking care of a Frisk who had just realized I had a copy of Just Dance for the PlayStation I had hooked up to the living room tv and was currently dancing to What Does The Fox Say? at a moderate volume.

So that's how I ended up sitting on the couch with my legs tucked under me while simultaneously making sure Frisk didn't accidentally fall and hurt themselves and listening to Papyrus' exasperated exclamations while Sans cracked pun after pun. Despite the noise, I felt comfortable, like I'd known these dorks my whole life. Then again, maybe that was just the aura Frisk and Papyrus naturally gave off. 

My brain buzzed with questions that I was forced to let remain unsaid. Some of them were touchy subjects that needed to be brought up delicately, while some were ones I'd feel like a perv for asking depending on the answer. I decided that writing down the unasked questions would help me get a handle on my thoughts and slipped away to grab an old notebook from my room before resuming my spot on the couch. 

As the thoughts came to me, I wrote them down.

_Okay let's start with the juicy ones, shall we? Souls. Are they private or intimate? Is soul bonding a thing? On that tangent, do monsters have mates or feel the need to mark their significant other. I guess that brings up the question of heat then. God, I hope that one doesn't really exist. Since skeletons have tongues because of their magic, can they summon other things? Or do they even have control of when the magic limbs summon? How does monster reproduction work? Is it different based on whether or not you have an animal that you resemble? Wow, so many questions, so little time. Onto the touchier ones._

__

__

_How long have they been in the Underground? How many resets has Sans lived through? Does Frisk have actual evil intentions or did Chara possess her? Or something in between? Where is Flowey? Who is W.D. Gaster? Is there a reason for Sans' low HP?...I probably won't ask that one._

By now, my page looked like this.

Unanswered Questions

Awkward Qs

-Intimacy of a soul?

-Is soul bonding real?

-Do monsters mark each other?

-Heat or periods?

-Ectolimbs?

-Monster reproduction?

Secret Qs

-Timeframe?

-Number of resets?

-Chara and Frisk: evil or curious?

-Flowey/Asriel?

-W.D. Gaster?

I sighed as I closed the notebook and went back to watching Frisk crush it at Just Dance. I barely had time to question her skills before a very pleased looking Sans was thrown on the couch beside me.

"Aww c'mon Paps, you're getting mad 'fusilli' reasons."

"SANS, YOU CAN'T COME BACK UNTIL IVE FINISHED COOKING OR YOU'VE DECIDED TO ATONE FOR YOUR AWFUL CONSTANT PUNS!" Papyrus screeched.

I giggled and leaned over to him before whispering,

"Y'know, supposedly your puns are actually his favourite, but he thinks you say too many, so he pretends he hates them. Don't know if that's 100% accurate though, so you didn't hear it from me." I shrugged as I leaned back to watch his grin grow just a bit as he took in the information and got comfortable on the couch.

"I guessed." 

We let the conversation die there and turned our attention to watch Frisk. After a while, there was a question I just had to ask. So I did.

"Sans?" I turned to him nervously. I really didn't want to remind him of a bad memory, but my curiosity was winning against my common sense.

"What is it, Kiddo?" 

I frowned.

"Sans, I'm old enough to drink, I think that counts as an adult." **(And before you tell me how false this is, shhhh. You're old enough to drink in this story, so deal with it."**

He shrugged, seemingly deciding to dismiss the fact I had pointed out. I sighed,

"How... how long were you in the Underground?" I asked, studying his skull for a reaction. He raised a browbone,

"Monsters have been underground for hundreds of years." He informed me.

"No, I mean how long were you down there. With the... resets and all." I found my voice get quieter at the word 'resets'. His expression darkened and I immediately found myself trying to help, "Unless that's more of a vodka question, of course!" I squeaked.

It seemed he had temporarily forgotten the question because he looked at me confused,

"Vodka question?" He prompted. I felt my face heat up slightly,

"Uh, yeah. It's like, a question that you'd rather not be sober to answer. I had other questions, but I thought they'd be too much to talk about sober and before dinner. It's perfectly fine if it is, I have a few of my own, so I understand..." I narrowed my eyes at my hands in my lap. Old memories aren't always fun.

Sans shrugged and let the serious atmosphere fade,

"Nah. Just thinking. To be honest, I don't remember. I gave up counting after the eighteenth one. Though I assure you there were many more than eighteen." He turned back towards Frisk with a slightly more annoyed look on his face. I wondered again what this child was really like.

The atmosphere was now noticeably tenser now, and the silence between us was nearly suffocating,

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Bout what?" He once again raised a browbone at me.

"I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Don't sweat it. It makes sense that you'd be curious. Having approximate knowledge is like that sometimes."

"No, it wasn't fair of me and I want to make it up. In fact, ask me a question." 

"A question?"

"Yeah! Anything you want, I'll answer it. Anything you've been dying to ask?" I smiled brightly, glad that I seemed to have gotten his attention.

"Anything I want?" He clarified. I nodded.

"Anything," despite the nervous feeling I felt in the pit of my stomach, I still smiled.

He seemed to think about his question for a moment before his face turned slightly blue.

"Can I listen to your heartbeat?" The question caught me off guard, and it showed.

"My heartbeat?"

The blush on his cheeks brightened,

"The only things I know about human anatomy comes from Alphys, and she gets her information from stuff she finds at the dump."He explained, before becoming slightly panicked, "F-forget it, it was a stupid idea-"

"Go ahead." 

"What?"

"I said go ahead. Listen to my heart." I turned towards him completely and held out my arms at my side, leaving my torso open and vulnerable. 

He glanced at my face again before cautiously leaning over. He placed where his ear would be on my chest, careful not to touch anywhere that would make me uncomfortable. After a few moments, I heard a sharp intake of breath as he heard what he was looking for. He stayed as still and as quiet as possible in fear of interrupting the soft sound. However, his worries were replaced by curiosity when my heart rate began to increase.

"It's getting faster," He observed, "What does it mean?"

I hummed thoughtfully,

"I dunno. My heart rate is increasing. Maybe, I'm nervous or something," I resisted the urge to shrug.

"Bout what?" He asked, leaning back. It seemed he had his fill and was content with what he heard.

This time I did shrug,

"Probably because you were so close. So, what'd you think?" I leaned back, getting comfortable in my spot once again.

He let out a contemplative hum.

"It was... odd. Kinda soothing actually. Though it was hard to hear over the sound of your soul."

I blinked in surprise,

"My soul? It makes noise?" I asked, tilting my head to the side a bit.

"Sorta. Monsters can sense magic signatures. And every soul has it's own unique magic signature, even if the owner of the soul can't access the magic themselves. It's like a humming."

I felt my face light up,

"Woah, that's so cool! Can every monster do that?"

"Yep. Anyone who can use magic can sense magic signatures to some degree." His browbones furrowed as he studied my face, "Shouldn't you already know this?" He raised a browbone and looked at me through narrowed eyesockets.

To his surprise, I scoffed humorously,

"Puh-lease. As far as the science of the Underground goes, everyone had to fend for themselves. Canonically, any and every question would basically be answered with 'magic' and then you'd take one of your shortcuts. Though I have to say, I remember a few authors that really hit the nail on the head with this one." 

Before he could respond, Papyrus' shrill voice ran through the house,

"DINNER HAS BEEN SERVED! COME GET IT WHILE IT'S STILL HOT!" 

_Oh right. God, I hope his cooking is better than we were led to believe. No matter what, I'm gonna do anything to preserve this poor cinnamon roll's feelings though._

I gave myself one quick determined nod and stood up from my spot on the couch to take my spot at the table.

In front of me sat a steaming hot plate of spaghetti. It looked like any other plate of pasta, to be honest. Papyrus was looking at me expectantly, in fact, they all were. They were just expecting different things. Papyrus was excited to hear my thoughts, Frisk was nervous for my well being, and Sans was silently wishing he could get this on camera. Sounds about right.

I flashed Papyrus a confident smile and picked up a forkful of spaghetti.

_You will put this in your mouth, swallow it, and smile. No matter what. Do not do anything to hurt that sweet babe's feelings._

I placed the food in my mouth, expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, it wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst thing I had ever had. It was just mediocre spaghetti. Kinda oversalted and the noodles were slightly overcooked, but edible for sure. Keeping in mind the others at the table, I smiled brightly at Papyrus,

"This is really good Paps! Good job!" To accentuate my point, I shovelled another forkful into my mouth.

Maybe Frisk is just a picky eater? Oh right, wait. It's probably because he couldn't find any glitter glue.

Frisk looked downright relieved while Sans looked kinda disappointed. Papyrus was absolutely beaming.

"WOWEE! I'M SO GLAD YOU ENJOY MY COOKING, TALL HUMAN! THOUGH I HAVE TO ADMIT IT IS MISSING THE USUAL SPARKLE. I WASN'T ABLE TO FIND ANY GLITTER GLUE." He frowned while admitting the last part, which only made me want to smile wider at the fact that I had predicted correctly. Regardless, I put on an apologetic expression,

"Aww, Paps, I'm sorry, but glitter glue is kinda dangerous for humans to eat. It's not really edible, so it could make us sick." I explained.

"OH..." 

"But! If you really want to add glitter to your spaghetti, I know that there IS a type of edible baking glitter that's safe to consume. I could try to find some if you want." 

"REALLY? THANK YOU, TALL HUMAN! I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO SAFELY FEED YOU THE GREAT PAPYRUS' FAMOUS SPAGHETTI!" His face lit up even more than it had before and I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face at his joy.

Sans seemed to have the same idea, because when I looked over at him, his expression was practically mirroring mine. He turned to me and mouthed a thank you before we resumed watching the giddy cinnamon roll excitedly talk about pasta recipes.


	14. Sans: To The Beat Of The Drum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I try my hand at pasta puns and Sans notices some things.

Oh, this was a very very good idea.

When Yin agreed to have me in the kitchen making sure the house stayed intact, I was ecstatic. Poor girl didn't know what she was getting herself into. Welp, she certainly found out; if Papyrus' shrieks were anything to go off of. 

"SANS, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR INCESSANT PUNS!"

I laughed and held up a bottle of thyme,

"That's okay, you can borrow some of mine."

"SANS!"

"C'mon Paps, you can't blame me for wanting something to 'pasta' time."

"YOU COULD PASS THE TIME BY LISTENING TO MY LESSONS, SANS. HONESTLY, YOU NEED TO LEARN TO COOK A DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI DISH OF YOUR OWN IN CASE WE EVER RUN OUT AND I'M PREOCCUPIED!" 

I took special note of the way Papyrus very carefully enunciated the words, 'pass the' just in case he accidentally repeated my pun. 

"Right, of course. I'm sorry Paps, please continue."

He smiled and turned his attention back to the stove.

"THANK YOU SANS. NOW, YOU MUST REMEMBER TO ALWAYS KEEP A STEADY PACE WHILE STIRRING YOUR NOODLES."

"Right. Otherwise, it could go 'olive' over the place."

"CORRECT. NEXT, YOU MUST ADD THE- WAIT"

"'Cheese' Paps, get on with it."

"SANS..."

"This is 'mei' kinda lesson."

"SANS."

"You're doing 'grate' Papyrus."

"SANS!"

"So is making pasta part of your daily 'rotini'?"

"OH MY GOD SANS!"

"Ah, if I had a 'penne' every time I heard that."

"SANS, LET ME COOK!"

"What do you mean? It's not 'mafalde' you're spending all your time yelling at me."

"SANS I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"Hey, don't let your temper 'spirali' outta control, otherwise I'll have to call you a 'bigoli' babybones. You know I can't help myself when it comes to noodles. The 'pasta'bilities are endless."

"THAT'S IT!"

"Are you gonna tell me to 'spaghetti' outta the kitchen?"

He said nothing as he picked me up and marched over to the living room.

"Hey, don't treat me like an im'pasta'!"

He threw me on the couch. Like, full-on dunked me on to the springy cushions beside Yin. It must have looked so odd with Papyrus scowling and me grinning like an idiot.

"Aww c'mon Paps, you're getting mad 'fusilli' reasons."

"SANS, YOU CAN'T COME BACK UNTIL IVE FINISHED COOKING OR YOU'VE DECIDED TO ATONE FOR YOUR AWFUL CONSTANT PUNS!" He stomped back into the kitchen, leaving Yin and I alone with Frisk.

Slowly, she leaned over so that she was where my ear would be and started whispering,

"Y'know, supposedly your puns are actually his favourite, but he thinks you say too many, so he pretends he hates them. Don't know if that's 100% accurate though, so you didn't hear it from me." 

I poorly hid the fact that that little tidbit of information, even though it might not even be true, made me even happier than before. My grin spread further across my skull as I relaxed into the couch.

"I guessed."

After that, everything relaxed into a comfortable silence. We watched Frisk crush it at that just dance game. I wondered if maybe that game was the reason she was so agile. I only wondered that because, after a while, she started to remind me of her fight with Mettaton in the pacifist run. I watched more carefully and even started to recognize some moves.

Not long after, Yin turned to me, an apprehensive look on her face,

"Sans?" She looked guilty almost. 

"What is it, Kiddo?"

She paused, seemingly pondering my response for a moment before frowning.

"Sans, I'm old enough to drink, I think that counts as an adult."

I shrugged, intrigued by the original thing that had made her so nervous in the first place. She seemed to see this because she let out a small sigh,

"How... how long were you in the Underground?" Her voice was back to being small and... scared? She didn't seem to really want to ask this question, but the curiosity must have overwhelmed her. I understood the feeling. To her credit, despite her obvious nervousness, she didn't lower her gaze or hide her face at all while waiting for a response. Her eyes were scanning my expression the entire time. I wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for. Anger? Sorrow? Anxiety? Regardless, I feigned ignorance, curious as to what her reaction would be.

I raised a browbone and looked at her like she had just said something wildly stupid,

"Monsters have been underground for hundreds of years," I told her matter of factly.

She got flustered for a moment before explaining herself grimly.

"No, I mean how long were you down there. With the... resets and all." I could barely hear her by the time she got to the end of her sentence. I scowled at the mention of the resets, prompting her to panic and try to fix the mood, "Unless that's more of a vodka question, of course!"

Now that caught me off guard.

"Vodka question?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

_What the fuck is a vodka question? Some kinda weird human slang?_

Her face heated up slightly in embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah. It's like, a question that you'd rather not be sober to answer. I had other questions, but I thought they'd be too much to talk about sober and before dinner. It's perfectly fine if it is, I have a few of my own, so I understand..." She was glaring at her folded hands in her lap, her fingernails digging into her skin so hard they were bound to leave imprints.

I studied her face for a second and found the sorrowful expression on her face physically painful as she relished in old memories.

_You and me both kiddo._

I sighed and shrugged,

"Nah. Just thinking. To be honest, I don't remember. I gave up counting after the eighteenth one. Though I assure you there were many more than eighteen." 

At remembering how we were thrust back into the underground time and time again, I turned to glare at Frisk briefly. Well, not glare per se. More of a dirty look. Of course, I'm still bitter about it, but I'm not gonna take my anger out on the kid when she could easily just reset and bring us all back. No fucking way am I going to chance that over something no one can change now.

We sat in silence for a while, the sounds coming from the tv and the sounds of Papyrus cooking in the kitchen being the only thing I could really concentrate on without paying too much attention to how thick the atmosphere had grown. After a while of suffering through that silence, Yin broke it.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. 

I raised a brow,

"Bout' what?"

"I shouldn't have brought it up."

I resisted the urge to scoff.

_Kid, if I were in your position I would have already asked much more invasive questions than that. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't yet._

"Don't sweat it. It makes sense that you'd be curious. Having approximate knowledge is like that sometimes."

But she seemed absolutely determined to right her self proclaimed wrong.

"No, it wasn't fair of me and I want to make it up. In fact, ask me a question."

_Oh? This could be a shitton of fun. There are so many things I could ask._

I decided to start by testing the waters and seeing if she had any rules for the question.

"A question?"

She smiled brilliantly, about what I didn't know.

"Yeah! Anything you want, I'll answer it. Anything you've been dying to ask?"

_Oh. Hold the fucking phone._

An idea found it's way to the top of my thoughts and screamed, begging to be used. I resisted the urge to blush as I clarified once more. If she says no, things could get really awkward really fast.

"Anything I want?"

"Anything." Her tone was decisive and final. Reflexively, I gulped in nervousness.

As I thought over the exact way to phrase the question, I felt my cheekbones warm. I decided to just get it over with before I became a blushing stuttery mess at a question I hadn't even asked yet.

"Can I listen to your heartbeat?" I blurted out, immediately feeling like an idiot. Yin visibly reeled at that question. Her eyes widened, her lips parted slightly, and a light pink dusted her cheeks as she stared at me.

"My heartbeat?" She squeaked.

I immediately felt my blush worsen as I stumbled to explain myself.

_Welp, I fucked it up._

"The only things I know about human anatomy comes from Alphys, and she gets her information from stuff she finds at the dump."

_Gah, why did I have to fucking say that question! That's probably way too fucking invasive._

Ah, there's the anxiety to come and make me second guess my every word.

"F-forget it, it was a stupid idea-"

"Go ahead."

My turn to be taken aback. 

"What?" I sputtered.

"I said go ahead. Listen to my heart." To punctuate her statement, she shifted so that she was facing me completely and held out her arms to her side, leaving her torso vulnerable. I gulped and, after looking at her face for a last reassurance and finding a patient smile, began to lean forward.

Maneuvering so that I could hear her heart was reasonably tricky. I knew the human heart was roughly located, so it was just a matter of getting to the chosen spot without touching her tits. In the end, I managed to place my head on her sternum without touching too much of the fleshy bits that I honestly kinda wanted to squeeze. Not like, sexually or anything, just because skeletons generally lack soft bits and her stomach looked really squishy and soft. The sternum bit was a whole other can of worms that I really didn't feel like opening just yet. I reasoned that humans don't have a sensitive ribcage (probably) and there's a layer of flesh between my skull and bone so there's no reason to overthink it and be nervous.

That helped a little bit. Only a little bit.

Once I started looking for the beating, I found another issue. Her soul. Being closer to it didn't help with its volume and intensity. In fact, it seemed to make it worse. I assumed that if I continued to spend time with Yin, I would automatically blend it in as background noise, but for now, it made finding a quiet sound practically right beside her soul kinda hard. Not impossible though.

I gasped.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

_Wow._

I was in awe of the quiet thumping of her heart. It mystified me that this little organ pumps 2000 gallons of blood through the human body daily. Something no bigger than my fist is one of the most vital things for survival in humans and it was absolutely mind-boggling. The quiet sound of the steady beating had such a calming effect on me, it was odd. Had given the chance, I could have absolutely fallen asleep clinging to her chest. But before I could even contemplate that, I noticed something odd. 

_The beating was speeding up. Oh! And her soul was getting more frantic. How odd._

"It's getting faster. What does it mean?"

She hummed in contemplation.

_Holy shit woah._

The sound of her voice this close was incredible. It sent vibrations through my skull. 

_Stars._

"I dunno. My heart rate is increasing. Maybe, I'm nervous or something," Her muscles tensed before relaxing.

Nervous? Do... I make her nervous?

As much as I wanted to stay listening to her heartbeat forever, I decided to pull back in an effort to control myself and my questions.

"Bout' what?"

_Oops. So much for controlling my questions._

She shrugged.

"Probably because you were so close. So, what'd you think?" She brushed the question off and leaned back casually but something about the fact the I caused her heart rate to increase and her soul to react the way it did, made me incredibly happy. I caught myself wondering what I could do to make it happen again.

_Where did THAT come from?_

Realizing she was waiting for an answer, I let out a hum and frantically said the first thing that came to mind,

"It was... odd. Kinda soothing actually. Though it was hard to hear over the sound of your soul."

_Shit. Couldn't have just said it was cool, no, you had to mention her soul. What if she doesn't know anything about souls and makes you explain? Or worse. Asks Papyrus or Tori. Man, they would ask who told her and then she'd talk about this embarrassing encounter thing and how I had the audacity to ask something so fucking invasive. Ughhhh._

Through my anxious overthinking, I saw her blink in surprise,

"My soul? It makes noise?"

_You dug this grave, now lie in it._

"Sorta. Monsters can sense magic signatures. And every soul has it's own unique magic signature, even if the owner of the soul can't access the magic themselves. It's like a humming."

I knew everything I was saying was basic knowledge. So basic, monster children have a general grasp of it by the time they start school. Despite that, I still felt like I was giving her the birds and the bees talk due to how private a soul is. I worried it could shift into something I really wasn't comfortable explaining far too quickly.

To my surprise, Yin reacted to that simple knowledge with such enthusiasm, I was sure that if she was capable, she would have stars in her eyes.

"Woah, that's so cool! Can every monster do that?"

"Yep. Anyone who can use magic can sense magic signatures to some degree."

_Wow. So much for that infinite approximate knowledge... oh. Fucking wait a second._

"Shouldn't you already know this?"

I narrowed my eyes at her only to be kinda shocked when she scoffed bitterly.

"Puh-lease. As far as the science of the Underground goes, everyone had to fend for themselves. Canonically, any and every question would basically be answered with 'magic' and then you'd take one of your shortcuts." 

_Oh. Oops. That does sound like me._

"Though I have to say, I remember a few authors that really hit the nail on the head with this one."

I didn't have time to respond to that comment because just then, Papyrus announced dinner.

"DINNER HAS BEEN SERVED! COME GET IT WHILE IT'S STILL HOT!"

Immediately Frisk and I shared a look of concern. Having both lived through Papyrus' friendship spaghetti (which is really just his regular spaghetti), we've built up a considerable poker face. Yin, on the other hand, has never had the chance to experience how indescribable his spaghetti truly is. Don't get me wrong, I love my bro with everything inside of me, but his cooking was sub-par, to say the least.

Despite the way Frisk was trying to convey to Yin flashing warning labels with her expression, Yin seemed to not even see her silent warning and gave herself a nod of encouragement before springing up from her seat. She looked so damn determined to eat Paps' spaghetti I found myself smiling and trusting her not to hurt his feelings.

Had I noticed the trust that I allowed myself to feel, I would have realized how odd that is. I don't trust easily; especially girls I had met the day before. Somehow though, this girl was different. BUT I didn't realize a damn thing and simply followed her. Oh well. I'm sure that won't cause unnecessary drama and/or pining later.

As usual, at first glance, Paps' spaghetti looked downright tasty. It always smelled wonderful too, but the taste and texture are what really throw the whole thing off. We were seated around Yin's table with a plate of pasta in front of each of us. It seemed everyone was waiting for Yin to make a move first as no one was willing to take the first bite. Including Paps. 

Confident that Yin would do everything in her power to preserve my bro's feelings, I found myself anticipating her first bite with thinly veiled amusement. Frisk still looked incredibly concerned and Papyrus was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

Subtly preparing herself, Yin flashed Papyrus a bright smile and picked up a forkful of spaghetti. She shoved the mouthful into her mouth and when it hit her tongue, she flinched.

My own grin grew.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the hilarious reaction I was hoping for. Nope. Her apprehensive expression turned into one of confusion as she pondered the food in her mouth. Her eyes flicked over to Frisk and I in an accusatory manner before she seemingly pushed aside her thoughts and focused on reacting to Paps' spaghetti.

_Wait, what?_

She smiled brightly as she faced him, his grin widened in response. 

"This is really good Paps! Good job!"

She shovelled another forkful of food into her mouth and I was left dumbfounded. Experimentally, I followed her example and placed a forkful of my own into my mouth. It was pretty good all things considered. Way better than before at least.

_Aww c'mon, what? That was about to be so funny. Paps, why did you choose tonight of all nights to forgo the inedible ingredients?_

As much as I wanted to be disappointed, I couldn't even pretend to feel upset with the size of Paps' smile. His delighted grin easily took up half his skull as he bounced up and down in his chair excitedly.

"WOWEE! I'M SO GLAD YOU ENJOY MY COOKING, TALL HUMAN! THOUGH I HAVE TO ADMIT IT IS MISSING THE USUAL SPARKLE. I WASN'T ABLE TO FIND ANY GLITTER GLUE."

_Oh. That explains it._

"Aww, Paps, I'm sorry, but glitter glue is kinda dangerous for humans to eat. It's not really edible, so it could make us sick." Yin sounded apologetic enough that Papyrus didn't even try to argue.

"OH..." He visibly deflated something that didn't go unnoticed by her even for a second. Immediately, she continued speaking,

"But! If you really want to add glitter to your spaghetti, I know that there IS a type of edible baking glitter that's safe to consume. I could try to find some if you want."

Paps bounced back immediately and I was grateful for whatever maniac decided to make glitter you could put in food.

"REALLY? THANK YOU, TALL HUMAN! I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO SAFELY FEED YOU THE GREAT PAPYRUS' FAMOUS SPAGHETTI!"

Yin's grin mirrored his own as she watched him rant delightedly. I only realized that I was making a similar expression when she turned to meet my gaze.

'Thank You.' I mouthed.


	15. Yin: Fun Things Happen On The Couch When No One Is Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get yer mind outta the gutter you cretins.  
> ...  
> Okay I should tell that to Yin too, but still.

After dinner, I gave Frisk and Papyrus control of the Netflix (on kids mode of course) and told them to pick two movies for us to watch. While they were making the uber-important decision on what movie we would be watching, I drifted back into the kitchen to make brownies and nachos for the movie night. I made sure to put a smaller portion of brownie mix in a separate pan to cook because I wanted to make ketchup brownies for Sans.

_Wow, at this rate I'm going to have to go grocery shopping again in a few days. You eat so much more food when you're not always by yourself, it seems._

While I was waiting for the treats to finish cooking in the oven, I decided to check on the others in the living room. Sans was sitting in one of the armchairs taking a nap. I was surprised that Papyrus wasn't chewing him out for it before I noticed Papyrus was too busy choosing a movie with Frisk. It seemed they were circling back around to Spiderman and Monsters Inc. though. I smiled softly at the comfortable atmosphere before returning to the kitchen to make sure I didn't burn the food.

It seemed the mouthwatering smell of warm brownies and nachos was more than enough to coax Sans out of his sleep, because as soon as I had taken all three trays out of the oven, he had blipped into existence beside me.

"God that smells amazing." He groaned after taking a deep breath.

I giggled,

"Yeah, but we can't eat them just yet. They need to cool for a few minutes before they can be cut, otherwise, they'll fall apart."

"That's bordering on torture, kid," he growled huskily.

I shook my head and turned around to face him completely, leaning on the counter,

"If you want, I have something to ask you that might take your mind off the brownies." I prompted.

He shrugged, glad for the distraction, "Shoot."

I hummed, trying to phrase my question properly,

"Okay, so, hypothetically," I stressed the word, "if I was to ask you to show me my soul, what would your reaction be?" I watched his face carefully for any indication of the answer I was looking for.

At the question, he glanced down at my chest for a split second, presumably where my soul is, glanced back up to my face as if checking to see if I was joking, before finally looking at anywhere but me as a blue colour seeped onto his cheekbones.

_Oh, so it is a private topic. Let's see just how private._

"I-I can't do that." His voice was uneven. Embarrassed.

I leaned forward and looked into his sockets,

"Why not?" I was simply teasing at this point.

He made a sound close to a squeak when he looked back at me and noticed I was closer now,

"Because you can't just-! I- souls are kinda private things." He huffed before elaborating, "Monsters only show them to their significant others, and sometimes not even then. Since they are the culmination of your entire being, it's like having every barrier stripped away from you... and because of that, they're kinda sensitive, so monsters use it for pleasure..." He mumbled the last part and his blush grew slightly more intense. 

I nodded, having already known this information, my face was barely even warm,

"Hmm. Good to know. On that tangent, are soulmates real?" I asked.

He nodded, glad for the slight change of subject,

"Yes. It's not like, love at first sight, but more, a strong curiosity about this person. That quickly turns into a need to protect, then unyielding love. " He explained.

I hummed, mulling over the new information.

"Y'know, some of us have a superstition that when you get close enough to your soulmate, you'll see a red string appear on you that leads you in their direction."

"That's pretty cool actually. Not how it works for us, but cool all the same."

I nodded and looked over my shoulder at the food.

"See? I told you it'd get your mind offa' the brownies. They're cooled off enough now." I told him in a singsong voice before going to cut the fudgy treats into small, even squares.

He groaned in relief and went to grab one of the regular brownies before I slapped his hand away,

"Hey!" He protested, "What was that for?"

I spun around to place a hand on my hip and look at him with a raised eyebrow,

"I go through all that trouble of making you your own personal batch, an' you're not even gonna try em'?" I asked, thrusting the plate of ketchup brownies towards him.

He eyed the plate in my hands suspiciously,

"What's the difference between the two?" He asked.

"Find out." I challenged, slightly waving the brownies back and forth, daring him to take one.

He shrugged and grabbed a brownie before taking a bite. Chewing cautiously, he tried to really taste why I had limited him to the one plate. He didn't have to chew for long before he looked down at the brownie in his hand in awe. I swear his eyes even turned into little stars for a split second before he looked at me with the biggest grin I had ever seen and shoved the rest of the ketchup flavoured abomination into his mouth.

"This is the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life." He whispered. 

I giggled loudly,

"I'm glad you like them!" 

Just then, we heard a shout come from the living room,

"Guys, we've picked a movie!" Frisk yelled.

"YES, WE HAVE FINISHED CHOOSING TWO FILMS THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING APPROVED BY MY VERY HIGH STANDARDS FOR ALL OF US TO ENJOY!" Papyrus agreed.

"Rad. Sans, can you grab the nachos, please? I don't have enough arms to carry all o' these to the living room by myself." I asked, eyeing the plates that were preoccupying my hands.

He hummed and the tray of nachos was surrounded by a blue mist. I shook my head,

"Fucking hell that's cool," I mumbled.

The food was placed on the coffee table in the living room, which had been turned into a giant pillow fort of sorts. Pillows and blankets were strewn all over the couch, chairs, and the air mattress, making a big comfy nest almost. My breath hitched at the sight as fantasies of comfort played in my mind.

"Dang, guys, I have to say this looks really comfortable. Wow, I'm gonna fall asleep right now if I'm not careful." I warned.

Frisk giggled and seized my waist in a hug,

"Nuh uh. You can't because you gotta stay up and watch Monsters Inc. and Spiderman with us."

My eyes narrowed at the child,

"Which Spiderman?"

"Homecoming."

A smile spread across my face at that as I picked her up and twirled her,

"Well I guess my hands are tied then, aren't they? How could I say no to Tom Holland?"

She giggled and we joined Sans and Papyrus who were already sitting on the couch, waiting for us to start the first movie.

After we finished the second movie, Frisk, who was sitting in my lap, let out a big yawn and slumped against me. I let out a low chuckle and hoisted her into my arms as I stood up,

"Sounds like someone is about ready for bed." I mused.

She sleepily nodded and let her head fall into the crook of my neck.

"Okay, but you need something to sleep in first. How does a big t-shirt sound, Frisky Bits?"

Another sleepy nod.

I turned to the skeletons that were watching us with curiosity,

"Feel free to pick another movie while I get this one ready for bed," I told them.

"ACTUALLY IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR ME TO GO TO BED AS WELL," Papyrus replied quietly, standing up. Sans groaned and stood up as well,

"I'm coming to read." 

I hummed and led them up the stairs. Frisk and I joined Sans and Papyrus in the kids' room after I changed her into a long, faded green t-shirt that went down to her knees and had a picture of Oscar the Grouch on the front. I threw her old clothes in a pile for me to wash later and tucked her into the bed. Papyrus was tucked into the air mattress beside her and Sans was sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a children's book. 

"Hey, I'm gonna put something on, pick a genre," I told Sans.

He shrugged,

"I dunno, how's horror sound?"

"Good or laughable?"

"You choose."

"Rad. Good night you two, have sweet dreams." I turned to the two innocents tucked into their beds.

"Night, Yin..." Mumbled Frisk.

"GOODNIGHT HU- YIN." Papyrus beamed as I left the room and closed the door behind me quietly.

I made a b-line for the couch and picked up the controller, looking for Netflix's horror section. I picked something called The Babadook and made sure to keep the movie on pause while I cleared the empty dishes and brought them to the kitchen sink for later.

By the time I had finished and was seated comfortably on the couch, Sans plodded down the stairs and flopped down beside me. He reached over to grab two brownies, one ketchup and a regular for me, before getting comfortable in his sear and handing him the baked good. I thanked him and started the movie, munching on my treat.

Around 20 minutes in, unbeknownst to me, I leaned against Sans and laid my head on his shoulder before falling asleep. Had I been awake, I might have caught him tense up or noticed the faint blush that appeared on his cheekbones when he looked at the sleeping human all cuddled up to him. But I was, so I didn't.

_Dreaming Start!_

_I was standing in my bedroom, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. Soft light streaming in from the sheer curtains gave my room a (heh) dreamlike quality and made the whole scene look fuzzy and warm._

_I was wearing a navy blue gown that stopped about mid-calf. It had a small cutout at the stomach and the sweetheart neckline was accented by loose, off the shoulder sleeves. A silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant hung around my neck. I knew it said something lovely on the back, but I didn't bother to look as I had read it a thousand times and had the precious saying memorized._

_My whole outfit screamed professional yet hot, a detail I was proud about. After all, I've had it picked out for tonight's event for a while. I think._

_Giggling, I twirled, watching the soft fabric spin around me and settle around my legs, only to be disturbed again as I repeated the process. Suddenly, the comfortable atmosphere dissipated, as I fought back the urge to scream upon locking eyes with something in the mirror behind me._

_A pair of eyes were boring into mine. They were the only thing visible on the figure seemingly composed completely of black mist. Still, those eyes were unforgettable. He should be- no, he is dead. Frightened, I spun around to confront the figure, only to be met with an empty room. Had I imagined it? The soft glow seemed more sinister now, making me shiver involuntarily._

_Just as I turned back to the mirror, I heard a sound that froze me in my tracks._

_A deafening bang made white creep into the edges of my vision until I was looking through a tunnel. My ears were ringing loudly, preventing my focus on any thought except one. Look outside._

_It screamed at me as I tried to run to the window. Everything around me moved in slow motion, giving the thought more time to invade my being. Look outside. Look outside. Look outside! Look outside! LOOK OUTSIDE! LOOK OUTSIDE!_

_I finally got to the window and pulled back the curtain, only to be met with white. I frantically opened the window and choked as the white dust that was being carried away by the wind rushed through the open window and into my lungs._

_The incessant thoughts were only silenced by a familiar voice scream out in agony._

_Everything was silent, aside from the sobbing that came from the owner of the voice. I was heartbroken at the sound, a feeling in my chest made me think that my soul was in as much pain as the soul outside. My soul called out in anguish to the outside soul, and I felt it call out to mine in turn. The connection calmed me down slightly before I caught sight of something that formed a painful lump in my throat and made my blood run cold._

_I was too shocked to do anything except sob when I noticed the painfully familiar red scarf flutter by the open window and out of sight._

_End_

I jolted awake harshly, only to panic at my constricted movements.

"Papyrus!" I croaked.

"Shh, shh, It's okay. He's okay. I got ya." Sans' deep voice brought me out of my panic long enough to realize I couldn't move because his arms were around me, preventing me from thrashing and hurting myself. His hand was petting my hair soothingly, trying to calm me down.

At this realization, the terror dissipated only to be replaced with intense relief that compelled me to cling to his warm hoodie and sob harshly. Everyone was okay. Papyrus was okay. He continued whispering comforting words as I cried into his chest until my sobs were reduced to quiet hiccups.

"Jeez kid, that felt like a fucking awful one," He let his arms slack up enough for me to lean back and look at him. Well as much as I could, considering sometime during my nightmare, he had pulled me into his lap. Concern and relief were written across his skull as he looked into my puffy eyes, "Wanna talk about it?"

I furrowed my brows as I tried to remember the details before they melted into a fuzzy mess and forgotten.

"I-I was getting ready for something, but I saw this-this thing behind me. But it disappeared. Then there was this loud bang, I think it was a gunshot? And screaming? So I opened the window and... dust flew in. White powder. I remember being really really sad and there was someone else I-I don't remember who, but I felt them? Like, I felt their sadness. But then, oh god I saw-" I let out a sob, "I fucking saw Papyrus' scarf blow away with the wind." I lost whatever composure I was able to gain when I felt more tears force their way out of my eyes and he pulled me back into his chest and rubbed my back soothingly.

"Hey. Hey. Everyone is fine. Papyrus is fine. He and Frisk fell asleep an hour ago and are still upstairs tucked in their beds." I calmed down again as I listened to the rumble of his voice in his throat. I was to the point of breathing normally when a question popped up in my thoughts,

"Did you say, that felt awful?" I winced at my scratchy voice before leaning back to look him in the eye as I asked. 

He chuckled awkwardly and I got the feeling he would have been rubbing his neck if his hands weren't holding my hips and preventing me from falling off the couch.

Speaking of which. 

I rolled out of my position of me subtly not-so-subtly straddling him in favour of simply sitting beside him on the couch, hugging a pillow to my chest.

"Well, yes." He answered hesitantly.

I raised an eyebrow, urging him to explain, which he sighed at.

"It was your soul." He admitted.

As much as I wanted to cut in, I stayed silent and let him explain.

"Remember when I said monsters could hear souls hum? Well, we can also feel when a soul is in an extreme condition, either good or bad. Your soul was calling out in distress and it ended up calling out to me because of how close I was. So yeah... you were... that was a lot of grief you were feeling. Felt like shit actually," He explained, subconsciously touching where his heart would be.

_He felt that?!_

"Dammit, I'm sorry, Sans," I looked at him apologetically.

The thoughtful look was wiped off of his features as he stared at me incredulously.

"What?"

"I'm sorry you had to feel that, that wasn't fair." 

He scoffed and shook his head,

"Jesus kid, you're gonna be the death of me. As sweet as that is, it's not your fault. Your soul called out for help. It was my choice to answer. You didn't force anything on me." He assured me.

My frown changed into an 'o' shape as I thought about that,

"Well, thank you. For helping me."

He shrugged and let his comical grin fall back into place,

"Eh, I wouldn't 'dream' of having it any other way. Consider it payback for last night... and an apology for being so hostile when you did." His grin fell and I was quick to reassure him.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" I had my hands in front of me and waved them frantically, "You had a reason to be hostile. You were just scared and I knew too much for you to feel safe. Besides, waking up to someone who's basically a stranger hugging you can't be the most relaxing thing in the world."

He smiled again and raised a browbone,

"You're right about almost everything. I ain't scared of you." 

I giggled and winked at him before making a clawing motion with my hand,

"Rawr." 

He narrowed his eye sockets before doing something I didn't expect and certainly wasn't prepared for.

A deep, guttural growl erupted from his mouth. My eyes widened and I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from making a startled squeaking sound. I felt my cheeks warm as I gaped at him like a deer caught in headlights.

_Holy shit! Holy SHit! Gah! I did NOT just find that hot. I did NOT just find that hot!! Oh god, I did. I didn't know he could do that, what do I DO?! Jesus that was hot. What do I FUCKING DO!? Ah, he's looking for an answer, what do I say!_

It was true. Sans' smug grin was slowly fading at my frozen state. I was panicking, so I did the first thing I could think of.

"Hey, Kid, are you oka-" He stopped when he heard my giggling.

I had forced a few giggles out of my throat and let them escalate into full-blown laughter to hide the fact that I was blushing super hard. 

"That was adorable!" I squealed. I had to hide the expression of my inner fucking computer crashing and rebooting when I said adorable instead of hilarious, but it seemed to work.

Maybe a little too well.

At me calling him adorable, his skull erupted in a deep blue.

"I-It's not supposed to be cute!" he protested, "It's supposed to be intimidating."

My laughter died down and I shrugged playfully at him.

He puffed out his cheeks at my seeming immunity to his growling and scoffed,

"Yeah, okay. Go to bed ya weirdo."

At the mention of bed, I felt my eyelids droop and I realized just how tired I was as a yawn forced its way out of me. Sans' smug expression returned.

"See?"

I waved him off and giggled,

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight Sans." Before I could change my mind, I leaned over and pecked his cheek before standing up and walking over to the stairs, "Thanks again and don't hesitate to come get me if you need something."

"Uh, sure." I heard him mumble before I was out of earshot.

Once I was in my room, I barely registered stripping and leaving only an oversized tee and my panties on as I climbed into bed. 

As tired as I was, I found sleep didn't want to come to me right away, so I stared at the ceiling and thought.

Immediately my face heated up as I thought of Sans growling.

_Jesus, what is WRONG with me? Why did that turn me on so much? OHOHO HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND THERE ME! JUST CAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS HOT DOES NOT MEAN IT TURNED ME ON! SLOW YER FUCKING ROLL THERE MATE, YOU MET HIM YESTERDAY. THIS IS NOT SOME ROMEO AND JULIET GRADE BULLSHIT!_

I physically shook my head to rid myself of the thought and instead thought about what Sans had said about my soul. 

_He had said it was like humming. I wonder what my soul sounds like?_

I shrugged and figured I had nothing to lose, so I closed my eyes and imagined my soul. I imagined what I thought it would sound like.

I spent a few minutes like that before I realized I was doing something stupid and useless. Feeling embarrassed, I rolled over on my side and let sleep take me.


	16. Sans: Accidental Cuddles And Then Nightmares That Kinda Ruin Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is honestly probably my favourite chapter I've written so far.  
> Sans doesn't know what the fuck is happening.

Ahh, naptime. My favourite part of the day. If only Paps and Frisk weren't loudly debating what movie to watch while Yin cooked in the kitchen, filling the room with that heavenly scent. 

After dinner, we had decided that a movie night would be the best way to unwind and relax so of course Frisk and Paps jumped on the opportunity to set everything up. Frisk was dying to see a movie called Monsters Ink or something? And Paps was elated to be given the chance to flip through as many 'human movies' as possible. Yin promptly decided to make some snacks for us to eat while watching the movie, claiming that it wasn't a movie night with nachos and brownies. I had raised my eyebrow at that one. Brownies I had tried before, but it smelled nothing like the scent wafting in from the kitchen. Nachos, however, I hadn't even heard of before. I didn't get the chance to voice this because Yin had excitedly announced her plans and left to fulfil them in roughly four seconds flat. Probably for the best.

Having no obligation to find my own activity to contribute with, I happily retired to one of the comfortable armchairs for a nap. However, with the combination of the noise and my over-busy mind as I contemplated what Yin was making in the kitchen, I found sleep wasn't coming so easy to me. After twenty minutes of laying with my eyes closed and failing to sleep, Frisk and Papyrus had started making a blanket fort and I decided to check on Yin.

_Welp. If I'm not gonna sleep, I might as well see what that smell is. Those brownies smell off. A good off, but off. I can't put my finger on it._

I teleported to the kitchen where I was completely enveloped by the heavenly scent. Immediately, I had to put effort into preventing my knees from buckling. I would have assumed they had magic baked into them if I didn't know who made them.

Needless to say, I wasn't able to hold back a groan after I inhaled deeply,

"God that smells amazing."

Yin didn't even flinch at my sudden appearance, not even a few feet away from her. Instead, she covered her grin with her fingertips and stifled a giggle,

"Yeah, but we can't eat them just yet. They need to cool for a few minutes before they can be cut, otherwise, they'll fall apart." Her voice had an amused tilt to it. Picking up on her playfulness, I joined in and played along. My voice dropped a few degrees,

"That's bordering on torture, kid," I practically growled, a grin on my face despite genuinely wanting to try some of that delicious scent.

She let out a breath with and shook her head before turning around and leaning on the counter to face me,

"If you want, I have something to ask you that might take your mind off the brownies."

I resisted the urge to raise a browbone at her expression. The distinct feeling that she was up to something crept up my spine, but I couldn't really call her out on it as I had no proof. Instead, I shrugged,

"Shoot."

She hummed in acknowledgement and broke eye contact, trying to phrase her question properly I guessed.

"Okay, so, hypothetically," she stressed the word, "if I was to ask you to show me my soul, what would your reaction be?" 

I. Froze. 

I fucking felt every molecule in my body stop and turn to ice, basically rendering me useless. I did not want to answer this question. I did NOT want to answer this question! Ah, but sadly the world goes on.

The seconds of awkward silence that followed I spent trying to keep up with my brain going a million miles a minute and not at all. Then, in a moment of absolute perfectly timed ape-brained fit of dumbassery, I registered two thoughts:

_1\. Maybe she's joking?_

_2\. I am staring at her chest._

_3\. Fuck._

Oh, wait! Make that three!

In an effort to answer my first thought and pretend that everything was fine, I tore my eyes away from where her soul was and glanced at Yin's face. Sadly, that meant seeing the expectant look on her face and realizing she wasn't joking. She was waiting for an answer and I had no choice but to give it to her.

I avoided eye contact while she waited patiently for my answer. While I took my moment to recoup, I felt the telltale sign that my entire face was lit up like a goddamn Gyftmas tree. Eventually, I was able to choke out an answer.

"I-I can't do that." I cringed at my obviously embarrassed voice. 

"Why not?" She replied, an innocent lilt to her voice.

I looked back to answer her only to find that she was much closer than before. Involuntarily, I let out a yelp that sounded more like a squeak due to me stifling it so quickly. Her gaze seemed to fill with mirth at the sound.

"Because you can't just-! I- souls are kinda private things." I huffed in a bout of confidence, annoyed at my poor composure. I elaborated, "Monsters only show them to their significant others, and sometimes not even then. Since they are the culmination of your entire being, it's like having every barrier stripped away from you... and because of that, they're kinda sensitive, so monsters use it for pleasure..." Yeahhhh, that confidence did not last long. I left out the fact that, 

A) Monster couples that do use soul play as a way of getting off are extremely serious about each other and have most certainly said "I love you" at the very least. Soul play requires complete and utter trust in your partner and casual lovers don't fit the bill. 

B) Often times those soul play sessions are between a single monster as soul masturbation is better than physical masturbation. 

I felt my face get ten times hotter as I remembered the first time I realized that for myself. Yin merely smiled and nodded understandingly before changing the topic.

"Hmm. Good to know. On that tangent, are soulmates real?"

Gratefully, I nodded.

"Yes. It's not like, love at first sight, but more, a strong curiosity about this person. That quickly turns into a need to protect, then unyielding love. "

She let out that humming thing she does when mulling over her thoughts. 'Cute,' my mind supplied.

Before I could react to that thought, she was talking again,

"Y'know, some of us have a superstition that when you get close enough to your soulmate, you'll see a red string appear on you that leads you in their direction."

I blinked owlishly.

_That sounds really inconvenient and also kinda cute. Human superstitions are weird._

"That's pretty cool actually. Not how it works for us, but cool all the same."

She hummed again and looked over her shoulder at the food- 

_Wow, she was right. I was so embarrassed about the soul thing that I completely forgot about the brownies. Although, she probably knew that, didn't she? Clever._

"See? I told you it'd get your mind offa' the brownies. They're cooled off enough now." Her voice was light and playful, almost gloating. 

She turned to cut the brownies into small, even squares and I couldn't help but notice she was using one of the flimsy plastic knives. After a quick once over of the kitchen, I also realized that the knife block sitting on the counter that held an assorted array of kitchen knives this morning was now mysteriously empty. I felt a pang of happiness in my soul at the fact that she did that for me.

Regardless, I let out a groan of relief at the fact that I could taste these fucking fudgy delights that have been sitting so tantalizingly close. I went to grab one, only to have my hand slapped away.

"Hey!" I protested, "What was that for?"

She turned to me with her eyebrow raised and a grin pulling at the edges of her mouth. She put her hand on her hip and pointedly looked me in the face.

"I go through all that trouble of making you your own personal batch, an' you're not even gonna try em'?" She thrust the second plate of brownies towards me.

_Yeah, sure, not suspicious at all. What'd she do, put hot sauce in em or something?_

I eyed the plate suspiciously before speaking.

"What's the difference between the two?"

"Find out."

Her grin widened as she swayed from side to side in a silent dare. Eventually, I relented; my curiosity ranking above all else once again. I shrugged, grabbed a brownie from the plate in front of me, and took a hesitant bite.

_...It's just a brownie? Oh wait, hold on, what's that-HOLY FUCK!_

The familiar sweet taste of processed tomatoes accompanied the fudge in my mouth in ways that made my soul sing. I looked down at the treat in awe and I was pretty sure my eyelights were in star form. I let my enraptured gaze shift to her before shoving the whole brownie in my mouth and moaning in food-induced ecstasy.

"This is the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life," I whispered.

She giggled,

"I'm glad you like them!"

The smile on her face sent a pang through my soul, but it was nothing compared to the way her soul was practically screaming in pride. I could feel that she meant that statement with every fibre of her being and I felt my soul feeding off hers and becoming just as prideful. 

_Stars, I made her smile like that._

Just then,

"Guys, we've picked a movie!"

"YES, WE HAVE FINISHED CHOOSING TWO FILMS THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING APPROVED BY MY VERY HIGH STANDARDS FOR ALL OF US TO ENJOY!"

Frisk's and Papyrus' voices filled the room, effectively stopping that train of thought.

"Rad. Sans, can you grab the nachos, please? I don't have enough arms to carry all o' these to the living room by myself," replied Yin, gesturing to the plates in her hands.

I hummed absentmindedly and used my magic to pick up the tray of what looked like popato chisps and cheese along with various vegetables and some meat. It smelled pretty good actually. However, I was too lost in thought to focus on that. I barely caught the quiet gasp of awe she let out when she saw my magic.

_Just what is this girl doing to me? I've barely known the girl for twenty-four hours and so far she has made me question my own existence, blush like a motherfucker at seemingly all hours of the day, and feel more complicated emotions in the last day than I have since the resets started. Why? Is it cause she's the first new person I've met for what feels like years? Is it because her soul is so fucking LOUD? What is it about Yin that is making me act like a total clod? I've always been so competent in putting on a front that made me out to be the laid back comedian, so why does this girl make me feel so goddamn exposed?_

It wasn't until the first movie was already playing did I realize that I had been spacing out for the last twenty minutes. I was lounging on one end of the couch with my feet in Papyrus' lap and Yin was on the other end with Frisk in hers. I looked around and found that there were pillows and blankets draped on and around the couch we were sitting on. The coffee table held the 'nachos' and the two plates of brownies. Sighing, I reached forward and grabbed one of the brownies Yin had made just for me- stars. My soul jumped at the thought. 

Like before, the treat was absolutely amazing. I felt my magic relax as I chewed through the ketchup flavoured fudge and snuck a glance at Yin, only to find her watching me. A bright smile spread across her face that was quickly hidden when she turned away to stare at the screen as heat rose to her cheeks. Embarrassed about getting caught.

I let out a quiet chuckle and focused my attention on the screen as well.

It wasn't long before we had finished two movies. They were... odd. Very different from both each other and what we had to watch in the underground, but strangely entertaining all the less. After the credits started rolling for the second movie, Frisk stretched and let out a yawn, prompting Yin to chuckle.

"Sounds like someone is about ready for bed." She smiled, her voice teasing. Frisk was quickly hoisted into her arms and propped on her hip as Yin stood up.

Frisk could only sleepily nod in response before nuzzling into the crook of Yin's neck. 

"Okay, but you need something to sleep in first. How does a big t-shirt sound, Frisky Bits?" The nickname was so natural, so affectionate. 

Frisk could only nod again.

Yin turned to us, a soft smile on her face.

"Feel free to pick another movie while I get this one ready for bed," Sha patted Frisk's head affectionately and turned to leave when Papyrus spoke up.

"ACTUALLY IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR ME TO GO TO BED AS WELL," If the quiet volume of his voice and the way his eyesockets basically drooped shut was anything to go off of, Paps was exhausted. I groaned and followed his lead, prying myself from the comfortable position I was occupying on the couch.

"I'm coming to read."

Yin let out a hum and led us upstairs. Papyrus and I split off and went in the former kid's room where we got set up for bed. I thanked fuck for interdimensional phone boxes at that moment, because by the time Frisk and Yin returned to the room, Paps was already in his racecar pyjamas and I already had his age-old copy of Fluffy Bunny at the ready. If Yin noticed it, she didn't say anything.

After she finished tucking in Frisk and was on her way out of the room, she suddenly stopped and turned to me,

"Hey, I'm gonna put something on, pick a genre,"

_Me? I could go for some horror movies I guess._

"I dunno, how's horror sound?" I replied.

"Good or laughable?"

"You choose."

"Rad. Good night you two, have sweet dreams." She said, suddenly turned back towards Frisk and Papyrus.

"Night, Yin..." Frisk was basically already asleep.

Papyrus, on the other hand, flashed her a brilliant smile,

"GOODNIGHT HU- YIN."

_Wow. He's making an effort to use her name. Man, Paps must really like her._

She returned the smile and left the room after winking to no one in particular. After the door shut with a soft click, I turned back to the eager Papyrus and the sleepy Frisk.

"Okay then. Let's read a story." 

After the two fell asleep, I rejoined Yin on the couch. I plopped down beside her, but to my alarm, I miscalculated and sat way too close. I could feel her hip on mine, but she showed no discomfort and didn't seem to make an effort to move, so I relaxed. Well, I relaxed after making sure we both had a brownie. 

_Fucking delicious ketchup and fudge flavoured masterpiece._

_This chick really is an angel oh my stars._

"Thanks, Sans." She mumbled before pressing a button on the controller and starting a movie called The Babadook.

I hummed in response and we fell into a comfortable silence.

For about five minutes. 

Now, I don't know if you've ever seen The Babadook, but about five minutes in there's this scene where the mom is in her room on her bed. She's had a stressful day and you think that she's gonna curl up and cry or something. But nope!

The woman grabbed something from her desk bedside drawer and beside me, Yin tensed up,

"Oh please tell me this is not going where I think it's going..." She mumbled. 

_Wait what do you mean? Where do you think this is going?_

Then the woman turned it on and the device in her hand started vibrating. Yin's face erupted in a brilliant red and her hands flew up to cover her embarrassment,

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She shrieked.

Raising an eyebrow I looked back at the screen.

"What are you-oh stars." My face took on a slight hue when I realized that the vibrating device had migrated down to her pants under the blanket.

Regardless, the look on Yin's face was too funny not to laugh at,

"Trying to seduce me with ranchy human movies?" 

She groaned again,

"No, I'm sorry. Had I known, I would have picked something else."

"Eh, no skin off my nose. We're both adults here, nothing to get embarrassed over." I reassured her, patting her shoulder. 

She looked at my face to check if I was kidding, but before she could respond, I continued talking,

"Besides, I should be taking notes. Gonna need all of this when I start scoring mad tail here on the surface." 

That earned a startled laugh. I watched as her embarrassment ebbed away with every second,

"Pfft. Yeah, maybe I'll have to get in on that. "

"Wingmen?" I asked, amused.

"Wingmen." She agreed.

The awkward moment gone, she handed me another brownie and unpaused the movie. (When did it get paused?) We relaxed into a peaceful silence watching the screen. 

Not too long after, I was on the verge of sleep when I felt a warm weight on my shoulder. Looking down, I found Yin had fallen asleep on me. The few inches she had on me made it kinda awkward, but seemingly comfortable enough. I felt my face take on a soft hue as I looked down at her. She looked so peaceful. Without thinking, I reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, only to feel my soul stop when a soft smile spread across her face. 

Grumbling softly at my unintentional reactions to her sleeping face, I tore my gaze away from her.

_Stars, what is wrong with me? Didn't I hate this girl yesterday? Yeah but then she was nice to Papyrus. And funny. AND compassionate and thoughtful. And, y'know if I'm being honest with myself, she's not bad on the eyes either- no. Fucking stop it, you're being a creep. Yin invites you into her home, feeds you, takes your feelings into account, and you have the audacity to act like this. Get a hold of yourself._

Sighing, I tried to focus on what was going on in the movie.

As the movie was ending, I once again felt relaxed enough to be on the verge of sleep. 

I felt it before I heard it. 

Yin started trembling. Violent twitches wracked her body as she practically hyperventilated. At first, I thought she had woken up, but after a quick check, I realized that was not the case. Whimpers began falling from her lips. Horrible, heart-wrenching sounds made me want to crumble in on myself.

"Hey," I put my arm on her shoulder and nudged her gently, "Yin, it's just a nightmare. Wake up."

Not surprisingly, that didn't work.

Her cries began getting louder as tears started to coat her cheeks.

Desperately, I shook her harder. 

"Yin wake up it's okay!" I whisper-yelled, very aware of Papyrus and Frisk just upstairs.

_Dammit, what do I do? How do you wake someone from a nightmare? I've only ever been on the other side of this-oh, my god._

Her soul.

The brilliant, radiant, expressive soul that had been Yin just hours prior was nearly unrecognizable. She sounded so lost, so scared. It made me want to cry. My own soul yelled at me to do something. To make it stop. I realized Yin's soul was reaching out to me. Asking for help. Reassurance. Someone to save her from whatever was going on in her head.

Without thinking, I pulled her into my lap in a protective hug. My magic enveloped her being in an effort to lessen the pain. To share it. It was a tactic I had seen others use from time to time. A tactic Papyrus had used on me many times before.

Immediately I was overcome with too many emotions to count. The most prominent was grief. Sorrow. An overwhelming loss. I wanted to cry. Scream. Fucking anything to make the pain go away. Yet I stayed put. 

_What the fuck is going on in your mind kid. What could you be possibly seeing that could warrant this._

"Papyrus..." She whimpered. I froze.

_All this grief... for Paps? Damn kid. Is she... having a nightmare similar to my own? Of her loved ones being slaughtered? Over and over again without a single goddamn regard for anyone else. Is she seeing herself watching in the sidelines not being able to do anything because she hadn't acted soon enough? Is she coming to the conclusion that the whole goddamn thing couldn't be prevented even if she tried? Because she is so fucking tired of watching everyone she knows and loves dying over and over-_

Suddenly, she jolted harshly backwards and began thrashing with purpose, thankfully snapping me out of my internal downward spiral.

_This isn't about me._

"Papyrus!" She cried. Her voice was thick with emotion.

"Shh, Shh, It's okay. He's okay. I got ya." I found myself saying as I repeatedly pet the back of her head in what I hoped was a soothing manner.

As she heard my voice, everything stopped. Her muscles tensed, her strangled whimpers caught in her throat, and her breathing stilled. Only the sound of her soul frantically sputtering in a blind terror could be heard.

Finally, a relieved sob left her and she pressed herself into me, clinging to my hoodie desperately. More sobs wracked her body, but the way her soul was calming down let me know that she just needed to be eased out of her emotional distress. Everything was going to be okay.

"That's it. Nothin's gonna hurt you, or Paps. It was just a nightmare." I whispered, making sure to keep my voice low.

_I̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶m̶i̶s̶e̶_

_I will make sure of it._

Eventually, her sobs turned into whimpers, then hiccups.

"Jeez kid, that felt like a fucking awful one," I unwrapped my arms that were keeping her pressed against my chest in a protective embrace. She sat back on my lap and let my hands rest on her hips to keep her steady. Her own hands were resting on my chest, letting me see her puffy eyes and tear-stained face. Despite knowing the answer would be no, I asked anyway, "Wanna talk about it?"

I forced myself to keep the shock off of my face when she nodded. 

"I-I was getting ready for something, but I saw this-this thing behind me. But it disappeared. Then there was this loud bang, I think it was a gunshot? And screaming? So I opened the window and... dust flew in. White powder. I remember being really really sad and there was someone else I-I don't remember who, but I felt them? Like, I felt their sadness. But then, oh god I saw-" I could guess what she saw as she let out a sob, "I fucking saw Papyrus' scarf blow away with the wind."

Her soul was back to being frantic and screaming out in grief. More tears started pouring from her red eyes as she relived the memory, so I pulled her back into a hug. I rubbed her back as well, a technique I had seen Tori use on Frisk once or twice. Not something you could do for skeletons, at least not without being extremely careful to avoid their spine. To my relief, it appeared to be helping.

"Hey. Hey. Everyone is fine. Papyrus is fine. He and Frisk fell asleep an hour ago and are still upstairs tucked in their beds."

Once again, her soul settled and she came down from her emotional high.

After a second or two of calm breathing, she leaned back again, this time putting some weight on her knees. I tried to ignore the fact that this made it so that she was more straddling me than simply sitting on my lap.

"Did you say, that felt awful?"

_Oh shit._

I chuckled awkwardly. 

She rolled off my lap and grabbed a pillow so that she could give me her undivided attention as she waited for me to answer,

"Well, yes." I finally choked out.

I sighed when she raised an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with my answer.

"It was your soul," I began, "Remember when I said monsters could hear souls hum? Well, we can also feel when a soul is in an extreme condition, either good or bad. Your soul was calling out in distress and it ended up calling out to me because of how close I was. So yeah... you were... that was a lot of grief you were feeling. Felt like shit actually," I explained, avoiding eye contact as I remembered the crushing grief I took on.

"Dammit, I'm sorry, Sans," She replied after a beat of silence.

Not sure if I heard her correctly, my eyelights snapped to her gaze,

"What?"

She looked down, almost guilty,

"I'm sorry you had to feel that, that wasn't fair."

_Really? Stars, this chick is way too fucking sweet for her own good._

"Jesus kid, you're gonna be the death of me. As sweet as that is, it's not your fault. Your soul called out for help. It was my choice to answer. You didn't force anything on me."

Her expression changed from guilt to realization and she responded with a grateful smile,

"Well, thank you. For helping me."

I shrugged before letting my signature grin spread across my face,

"Eh, I wouldn't 'dream' of having it any other way. Consider it payback for last night... and an apology for being so hostile when you did."

_Fuck. Yeah, I was a huge dick last night. Stars, she was only trying to help._

"Hey, don't worry about it!" She put her hands in front of her face and waved them frantically, "You had a reason to be hostile. You were just scared and I knew too much for you to feel safe. Besides, waking up to someone who's basically a stranger hugging you can't be the most relaxing thing in the world."

_She gets it. I- hold on. Scared of her?_

I raised a browbone,

"You're right about almost everything. I ain't scared of you."

She giggled and winked at me before making a clawing motion with her hand,

"Rawr." She taunted.

_Cute._

I decided to show her what an actual growl sounded like.

That marked her turn to freeze. 

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, only letting me gauge her reaction with her eyes. Her ears turned red, yet she stayed silent.

_Aw fuck. I didn't scare her, did I? Oh I hope she knows there wasn't any malicious intent behind that. Stars, I fucked up, didn't I?_

"Hey, Kid, are you oka-" I cut myself off when I heard something entirely unexpected.

Giggling.

Laughing.

She was laughing at me.

_What._

"That was adorable!" She squealed.

Well damn if that didn't turn my skull blue, nothing did. I felt my face heat up so quickly, it was like she had hit an imaginary button.

"I-It's not supposed to be cute!" I sputtered, "It's supposed to be intimidating." 

She let her laughter die down as she grinned at me and shrugged. I got the distinct feeling that I had done the exact same thing to others many times before and damn I did not like it. Well, I mean I did, but in an, I'm getting teased because this person trusts me kinda way.

I puffed my cheeks out in protest,

"Yeah, okay. Go to bed ya weirdo."

She nodded and let out a yawn, prompting me to look at her smugly,

"See?"

She let out another giggle,

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight Sans."

Before I could even hope to respond, she leaned over and pressed her lips to my cheek. It was quick and simple, barely even a second, but fuck did it make my soul stop. 

"Thanks again and don't hesitate to come get me if you need something."

I barely registered that she was speaking, but still, my body responded, 

"Uh, sure," I mumbled intelligently. 

I listened to her walk all the way up the stairs and into her room before my body even reacted. Slowly, I brought my hand up to my burning cheek to touch where lips met bone.

"Stars."

My soul felt like it was bursting, begging me to go after her and... do something. Anything. 

_No. Get a hold of yourself. She was thanking you for helping her as a friend. That was completely platonic and you've only ever known her for a day. Besides, she wouldn't be interested in a bag of bones anyway and you don't trust her fully. Nothing outside being friends. AND! YOU'VE. KNOWN. HER. FOR. A. DAY. Chill the fuck out._

I decided to reflect on the day I'd had. From that morning's singing incident and breakfast to the awkward questions before and after dinner, it seemed that Yin was becoming more and more attached to me and my friends. An honestly? I didn't mind it. However, the information gap caused some pretty awkward moments.

_Man, I should start asking questions about her biology too. I've certainly disclosed way more information about souls today than I wanted to. At least she seems kinda indifferent to the whole privacy thing._

_Or she already knows and is fucking with me._

_._

_._

_._

_That sly little fuck! Fine! Two can play at that game._


	17. Yin: The Man, The Legend, The... Wait, What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's our boi

Thursday. I had been both filled with excitement and an impending sense of dread towards this day since Toby's assistant had called back and confirmed the date and location of our meeting. Now I had a laughably small amount of time to get ready and make sure I don't do anything that could endanger my new friends. 

Yesterday, the rest of the group had returned, which led me to give up my bed again and sleep on the couch. Mmm boy, I sure do love a sore back. Though it's not all bad. The sore back prompted me to stretch in an effort to relieve the minuscule amount of pain. While stretching, my spine decided to let out the loudest, most satisfying crack I had ever experienced. It was amazing. One after the other in quick succession every vertebra popped, prompting me to groan afterward. Though, my satisfied expression lasted for about three seconds before a loud scream morphed it into one of confusion. 

I whipped my head towards the source of the ongoing sound, only to find Papyrus screaming and Sans looking horrified with his eyelights missing from his skull. His scream lasted for a few more seconds before he resorted to silently looking at me in both horror and with concern. I opened my mouth and closed it a few times in an attempt to voice the question that my tilted head and furrowed brows conveyed. Lifting an index finger, I finally found my voice,

"...what the fuck?"

And that's how I found out that skeletons don't pop. Poor guys thought I had just completely shattered all of my spine and were absolutely horrified. I tried to keep a straight face when they were expressing concern, I really did, but when they found out I was fine, their expressions turned me into a stupid giggly mess. 

See? Not all bad.

Anyway. With approximately half an hour left, I was standing in my room, trying to choose an outfit. I was torn between, 'If You Make The Wrong Move I Might Punch You', 'Professional As Fuck', and 'Bad Intentions? What Are Those?'

Self-explanatory, really.

As much as I wanted to wear my edgy biker jacket, I figured Sans and Undyne could intimidate Toby plenty. With a sigh, I put that outfit to the side and made a mental promise to wear it another time. That left me with a professional option and one that would make me look innocent and sweet.

I narrowed my eyes at the pointed heels that went with the former and put it back as well. 

_This is my own damn house. No way am I going to torture myself just so I can look good for some developer hotshot who may or may not be evil. Sweet and deceitful it is._

After putting on the outfit, I looked at myself in the mirror and twirled slightly,

"Pfft. I look like Hello Kitty or some shit." I laughed, eyeing the bows on the kitten heels, "Hmm. The heart locket kinda makes me look like an Undertale fangirl. That's probably a good angle to work with." I picked up the gold heart locket and clasped it around my neck.

I let my hair hand loose and steeled my nerves before walking out into the hallway and down the stairs. In the living room, everyone was discussing the plan. 

"Hey, guys. Is everyone ready?" I asked, noting that we had fifteen minutes.

Sans was the first to look up,

"Hey, kid- woah." He looked at me and had to do a double take. The look on his face was indescribable; like it couldn't decide on what emotion to pick. He just kinda circled through them all, "You look..."

I chuckled and posed. My pointer fingers jabbed into my cheeks as I shot him a childlike smile.

"Like some pink cotton candy monstrosity? Yeah, I know." I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes and relaxing. Only to be swept up in a dual hug between Toriel and Mettaton.

"Nonsense! You look adorable, my child!" Toriel exclaimed.

"Darling you're absolutely fabulous! You're so sweet, I'm going to get a toothache!" Agreed Metta.

It was a weird sensation being hugged by both of them with Toriel being extremely fluffy and soft on one side and Mettaton being hard and slightly cold on the other.

I chuckled when they let me go,

"Good! That's exactly what I want Toby to think. If he sees me as harmless and sweet, then he won't suspect anything when I lull him into a false sense of security and make him spill his dirty little secrets." I smiled sweetly at the shocked face of Toriel, Asgore, Papyrus, and Alphys. Everyone else just kinda looked impressed.

"Hell yeah!" Undyne exclaimed suddenly, punching the air enthusiastically. Which of course led to her being scolded by Toriel for swearing around Frisk.

I giggled and checked the kitchen to make sure that the tea was set out. Asgore had insisted that he make Golden Flower tea and that I had to be hospitable regardless of the person and I just couldn't refuse the big guy. I mean, not that I wanted to. I had been wanting to try his tea for years.

Suddenly, a knock on the door was heard. Immediately, I sprinted back to the living room just as the group of monsters sprinted up the stairs as quietly as possible.

I did a once over of my outfit and the room and after making sure that everything was in place, I put on a bright smile and opened the door.

Standing there was an average man wearing a dark blue patterned button down and a pair of tan pants with short dark brown hair. It was warmer out that day, so he didn't need a jacket, I recognized him as Toby Fox. A car was parked in the driveway and he seemed to be alone.

_Strange choice, but okay. You'd think he'd have a bodyguard or something. Is he looking to get jumped? Maybe he's really good at self-defence or something?_

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and offered my hand for a handshake,

"Hello!" I greeted.

This seemed to pull him out of his own thoughts as he tore his eyes from the golden locket around my neck and took my hand, smiling kindly,

"Hello, Miss. My name is Toby Fox and I'm looking for a Yin (L/N)? Is she around?" **(Hey guess what I know nothing about being formal and polite because I'm just a ball of anxiety so this is gonna read off as kind of weird for anyone who knows how to people good. And this is not me asking for pointers so I'd appreciate it if you didn't.)**

I let out a relaxed chuckle,

"Actually you're looking at a Yin (L/N). Please, do come in." I stepped aside and held my arm out behind me.

He nodded politely and stepped into the threshold,

"Of course. It's very nice to meet you Ms. (L/N)."

"Likewise. I trust you had a pleasant trip?"

As we chatted, I led him into the kitchen to sit at the dinner table.

"Tea?" I asked, pouring myself a cup.

"No thank you. I'd like to get to why you asked me here actually if you don't mind."

I shrugged and took a sip from my cup. 

"Hmm. All work no play I see. That's quite alright. I actually called you here to discuss your game. Undertale."

He looked at my innocent expression warily,

"Okay."

"Mr. Fox, where did you get the idea for the game?"

Looking slightly disappointed, he answered,

"As I've stated in past interviews, I was simply underwhelmed by the lack of games that broke the mould when it came to involving the player-"

I let out a giggle,

"Actually, I was referring to the lore. The characters and location as well as the storyline. You know, all the fun stuff that really got people attached to your creation. And please, answer truthfully, Mr. Fox." I let my sweet persona slip for the last sentence before regaining it and smiling brightly.

Shifting uncomfortably, he cleared his throat,

"W-well, it just came to me, I suppose. You may have noticed that puns are a reoccurring theme in Undertale. I guess I started with having Toriel as the tutorial and went from there?" He studied me nervously.

_Oh no. Looks like I let my personal slip for too long. Oh well. No point in keeping up a lost cause._

"Why do I get the feeling that that statement isn't entirely truthful?" I narrowed my eyes, and as he opened his mouth to defend himself, grinned creepily and continued talking, "You see, Mr. Fox, I have reason to believe that your creation isn't really yours. Isn't that right? Now, your theft wouldn't bother me so much normally, but in this instance, your poor decision has put some friends of mine in danger."

He steeled his jaw and glared at me,

"Now listen here! I haven't the slightest idea as to what you're talking about! My game hasn't put anyone in danger and I certainly haven't stolen from anyone!" 

I raised an eyebrow and gave him the most intimidating expression I could muster,

"Is that so?"

"Yes! Now if you'll excuse me, I believe this meeting is over." He stood abruptly and before he could stomp away, I stood as well and grabbed his wrist tightly,

"Aww, you wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to 'your creations', would you?" My tone was dangerous.

His hard expression flickered to one of confusion for a split second before returning to anger and yanking his wrist from my grasp,

"You're fucking insane lady." He walked toward the doorway back to the front door. Shrugging, I followed behind him, matching his pace.

I smiled to myself when he rounded the corner and stopped abruptly,

"Is that really any way to speak to a lady?" Sans' deep voice spoke up, making the breath in his throat hitch.

"Eh, I guess he's not 100% wrong. Sorry guys, the whole sweet schtick didn't last as long as I thought it would." I shrugged and grinned at the boss monsters (and Frisk) blocking the way out of the house.

"W-wha..?" Toby turned to me, a helpless look on his face. His legs were trembling and the flush from his fit of anger was gone.

I looked at him, amused, 

_Pft. This must be what I looked like. How did they not burst out laughing?_

"See? Look at how rude you would have seemed had you not said goodbye to everyone."

"HELLO HUMAN!" Exclaimed Papyrus excitedly.

Aside from him and Frisk, everyone had their serious and intimidating faces on full display. 

"Uh, h-hi. Those a-are some r-real good cosplays."

I sneered, my voice low and dangerous,

"No. We're not gonna do this five stages of grief bullshit. I am not fucking around. This is real and you know it. Your shitty little game invaded the privacy of these people and put them in danger. Now it's your job to make it up to them." I made sure to keep the volume of my voice quieter so that the innocents (and Toriel) would have a harder time hearing me swear.

He gulped and trained his frightened gaze back on the boss monsters,

"Wow, she's scary," He croaked, earning a round of amused chuckles. "I think I'm just gonna sit down..." And with that, he fainted at my feet. 

A hushed silence fell over the room. I swear you could hear a pin drop until quietly, I let out a long, drawn-out groan that grew from barely audible to loud.

"Ugggghhhhhhhhh. You have got to be kidding me." I dragged my hands down my face glaring at the unconscious man with an annoyed expression.

"OH NO!" Papyrus gasped, finally shaken out of his shellshocked state.

"Is he...?" Undyne trailed off.

I blew a lock of hair out of my eyes and turned to them with a softer expression,

"Nah. No need to worry. He was just overwhelmed and will probably be back up in a few minutes. "

"I should move him to the couch," Toriel said, seemingly lost in thought. 

I stepped back, allowing her to lift the man and carry him into the living room.

"At least he's not evil," Frisk said, trying to lighten the mood.

"That's the guy that caused this mess? Are you sure, darling?" Mettaton asked.

"You've got to be kidding! He's a wimp!" Undyne exclaimed.

"We should still be cautious," Asgore piped up, "We don't know what this man is capable of." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A dream?!"

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry. If I had known that you guys actually exist, I wouldn't have made Undertale." Toby looked down at his lap.

"What."

After waking up, Toby had calmed down enough to answer our questions.

Needless to say, it didn't turn out to be a big evil corporate cover-up ploy like I had thought.

"I had been having the same lucid dream every night for months. Every time, I woke up and made my journey through the underground. I never woke up until I finished the dream or died. If I did it was like I had reloaded from the last save point and I'd go from there the next night. And every run I explored another secret cave, found another hidden button or got a different reaction out of one of the characters. I was always in control. It was always lucid. Until one night. Thinking it's a dream, I was curious so I decided to try something new. I killed a monster. A Snowdrake in Snowdin. After that, the rest of my dream was just me going through as normal, but I had no control. The next night, I went through again as a pacifist, but the control I had was gone. This went on for a while until the me in the dream killed again. They killed everyone, did a genocide run essentially. I had no control until the very end when..." He stopped suddenly, looking at Asgore and Toriel, then at Frisk, and I, "When our pink-cheeked friend wanted to make that deal. I denied their offer and woke up. Anyway, that continued on for a while. Sometimes I had control and sometimes I didn't. Eventually, I had the thought that I could make a game out of my dreams and they stopped. Just like that. So I did and now we're in this mess."

_This... is a lot._

Silence washed over the room as each person took in the information and digested it in their own way.

"So let me get this straight," I began, already sinking into the couch, "You were having a reoccurring dream that you were in control of until curiosity literally killed the cat among other things." 

"Yep," he shrugged.

"So you were essentially Frisk." I clarified.

"That's what demon spawn and their brother told me."

"Wait, darling, what do you mean he was Frisk?" Asked Mettaton.

"YES, AND WHO IS THIS PINK CHEEKED FRIEND YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT?" Papyrus gasped, "DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD WANT TO BE MY FRIEND?"

_Oh right. Uh oh, what do I do? They don't know and I can't out Sans like this; he would be furious._

I looked at Papyrus sadly before silently looking to Sans for help. But... he looked just as confused as to who we were talking about. My eyes widened when I realized he didn't know what Chara looked like because they had only interacted with him through Frisk. This only seemed to confuse him more. 

I panicked silently for a few seconds before pulling myself together and answering,

"Oh, well, because Frisk journeyed through the underground. He just made the same journey that Frisk did in a few of his dreams." I half-lied.

"Pink cheeked friend is just an expression Papyrus. Sorry." Toby jumped in, coming to the same conclusion I had. Frisk nodded along in agreement, "Anyway... do you guys have any more questions?"

I thought back to my conversation with Alphys in my bedroom,

"I do! I can't believe it took me so long to remember this. Dude, why'd you lie about Alphyne?" I exclaimed. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Alphys and Undyne blushed inhumanly red and everyone else smiled at their obvious mutual crush.

Toby looked at me in disbelief as he sputtered at my question,

"Are you kidding? Look at them! I couldn't bear to program them dance around each other for all of eternity."

This prompted most of the room to laugh, excluding Undyne and Alphys of course. 

"Nyahhh! Whatever punk!" Exclaimed Undyne, her face as red as a tomato, "Let's just talk about our game plan for freeing the monsters for good." 

This sent Asgore into his 'kingly' mode,

"Of course. Now that we have an influential human on our side, we need to discuss diplomatic strategy." He stated and led everyone to our unofficial meeting spot.

Before Sans could follow him into the kitchen, I grabbed his upper arm and pulled him up the stairs,

"Woah kid, not that I don't find skipping out on an important meeting 'humerus' and all, but what are you doing?" He asked, just as I began leading him down the hallway and into my room.

"We gotta have an important chat of our own, Bones," I replied, closing the door behind us.

He arched a browbone,

"Bones? That's new."

I stopped for a moment and furrowed my eyebrows as I thought over my last sentence.

"Oh," I blinked, "I didn't even notice."

"Anyway, you wanted to talk?" He asked, concern edging its way into his voice.

"Right. Sans, we need to tell them about the timelines. And about our pink-cheeked demon friend, Chara."

His face darkened and his eyelights disappeared. He didn't say anything for a few seconds while the atmosphere got darker.

"No." He responded quietly.

"Sans-"

"I don't want to put them through that." His voice was slightly louder and more sure of itself.

"But-"

"No! I can't put them through that shit, Yin. I can't tell them about what the kid has done... about what I've done. They wouldn't be able to handle it." His hard facade started cracking only to be replaced with regret and sorrow.

For a few moments, no one said anything. I simply stared at his face as he broke down slowly. Eventually, I sighed and took a step closer to him,

"Sans, I'm not going to force you to tell them. But they are going to find out. Someone is going to say something or they're going to go too far down a metaphorical rabbit hole and figure out the truth. I just want you to ask yourself whether or not you'd prefer they hear it from you or someone else."

He glared at me for a few moments, wanting to say no, but he knew I was right. He sighed and hung his head in defeat,

"I know. I will tell them. Soon. Just... please don't say anything, not yet." He mumbled tiredly.

I smiled encouragingly and patted his shoulder,

"Sure, Bones."


	18. Yin: To Recap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly kind of a boring chapter.

After a month had passed, everything had gone suspiciously well.

As planned, we had introduced the monsters to the world the next day and everything went... okay. We got Aunt Minerva and a few of her famous friends to act alongside Toby Fox as influential people that the public would listen to and I still think that they helped immensely. However, the biggest help, surprisingly, was the fangirls that we were so worried about.

There wasn't an absurd amount to them in Ebott (more on that later), but the fifty or so fans of Toby's game helped our influencers convince the other citizens that these monsters were not to be harmed. They formed a wall alongside the bodyguards that Aunt Minerva's friends brought along. Truth be told, they were kinda scary. Damn was I relieved that I was on the side they were defending. 

The few that had grabbed shotguns and rifles, presumably off their mantles hanging underneath a skinned deer, reluctantly lowered them once they saw all the youth protecting the monsters. Most weren't too keen on shooting their nieces and grandchildren and those left realized they wouldn't be able to win without the others. Can we go back to that for a minute, though? I hope you realize I was being sarcastic about the mantle thing because who the fuck just has a large gun like that just at the ready? In a city no less. I mean, yeah I understand that there will be a few gun enthusiasts, but most of those people usually have either smaller, lighter guns like pistols, or ones that don't work or are just for decoration. But upwards of twenty-five people with shotguns? What the fuck? And those guns aren't easy to get either. You have to work for your gun licence for months before you're even allowed to hold one. 

Anyway.

Among them were the religious nuts who stood there yelling about how we were defending 'evil monsters' and 'godforsaken creatures of darkness sent from Satan himself to poison us with sin'. Y'know. Normal things that people say. (Not bashing religion, don't @ me.)

It didn't take very long for the news vans to show up and start filming our little 'stunt'. They quickly pushed the enraged church-goers to the side as they fought to get a better look at the new creatures. 

Cameras turned on, and just like that everyone in the world was filled with the same, basic question. What the fuck? 

The phone in my pocket began vibrating like crazy, (I found out later that they were texts from Ma and Julie) as well as the phones to basically everyone in the crowd. Family, friends, co-workers, anyone and everyone was trying to reach for their loved ones in an attempt to understand what had happened.

So naturally, everyone was listening eagerly when we were giving a speech in front of thousands two days later. Millions watched at home as we told our story in the large stadium. I had never met so many high ranking people in such a short period of time. 

For the first week, I refused to leave the boss monsters' sides. It was only until the Dreemur family promised me that they could handle what comes, did I agree to return home and let the diplomats do their thing. I was worried, but Toby and Frisk ended up making a fine team as the monster ambassadors. Of course, seeing everything go well didn't stop me from texting them every day and making sure that everything was going as well as they said.

When I returned, I was very much bombarded by reporters for the first few days. They questioned me about anything and everything pertaining to the monsters, trying to glean anything that they could blow up into a scandal. I was very careful around them and they eventually basically left altogether. Though, I'm sure the request The Ambassadors made about being courteous and respecting the monsters' privacy helped slightly.

The gold used as currency in The Underground fetched quite a high price, meaning that monsters were reasonably well off. This gave monster-haters something else to be angry about, but there wasn't an immense amount of them, so no one worried too much.

It wasn't long before it was declared that monsters were to be considered 'persons'. That meant that they were given basic human rights, could legally buy and own property, marry, and apply for citizenship. They were still discriminated against greatly, but overall the situation was much better than I expected. The push that moved The Persons Case (#2) to the monsters' side was a tragic event. A monster was murdered in cold blood and the killer got away. It prompted supporters to protest the injustice and helped those who were on the fence about it pick a side and help the grieving monsters.

While awful, it helped greatly.

Mettaton quickly grew into a sensation. It happened almost overnight. He and Aunt Minerva became fast friends and began working on everything together. The one concert they have hosted so far did so well, Mettaton was immediately offered an opportunity to start his own company: MTT Studios. Surprisingly, he had originally wanted to decline and continue working with Aunt Minerva, but she was having none of it. They agreed to continue working together, but not for the same company.

While most monsters chose to stay in Ebott-right! I almost forgot. (City/Name) was renamed Ebbot. The city officials were pushed by thousands to rename the city after a historian found that the mountain it sits at the base of was originally called Ebott. The same historian got together with a group of other historians and created a theory with some of the oldest monsters in The Underground. They believe that when the barrier was created, the seven mages that created it willed the world to forget about the existence of monsters.

Oh, I'm getting off track.

While most monsters chose to stay in Ebott, some travelled to other countries to start their lives. It is rumoured that Jerry lives in the Bermuda Triangle, but no one knows for sure. Sans and Papyrus bought a house in Ebott pretty close to where I live so hanging out is something we do often. Alphys and Undyne both live in the more rural area of Ebott. They're practically neighbours. Undyne says it's so there are fewer people to bother her while she trains and Alphys is worried about one of her experiments accidentally harming civilians. A well thought out excuse to live next to each other in my opinion.

The Dreemurs also had a house in Ebott, but they were rarely home as they were constantly on business trips.

After two weeks of Grillby searching for someone willing to sell him a property in the business end of town, he was finally the proud owner of Grillby's. Again. All he had to do was wait for renovations to finish before he could declare his bar open for business. 

So like I said, everything was going well. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and the world was baiting its breath for the other shoe to drop.


	19. Yin: Normal Day At Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Douchbags make the world go round

It was a normal day at work.

"What do you mean you're out of blueberry pie!?!"

"I'm sorry Ma'am-"

"My son has been waiting all day for blueberry pie and you are going to tell me that you're out!? What terrible service! I have half a mind to speak to your manager and get you fired."

"Ma'am-"

"How dare you interrupt me! I wasn't done talking you useless girl! Weren't you ever taught any manners!?"

Yep. Normal.

I quietly grumbled under my breath at this entitled mother while her child screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I could offer you another dessert for free, Ma'am." I offered politely, ignoring the glare she was looking at me with. Almost immediately, her face morphed into a smug smile and she shooshed her son.

"That would be great, thank you. One chocolate lava cake to go, please."

_Wow, I'm going to implode. God, I wish I didn't work here so I can slap that smug look off of her fucking face._

I refrained from scowling as she picked the most expensive dessert option on the menu that was now coming out of my pocket. Instead, I smiled sweetly at her and turned on my heel to march through the employee-only doors and let out a silent scream of rage. 

After a few minutes of calming myself down, I grabbed the worst chocolate lava cake we had and put it in a to-go box.

So that was fun.

As I was wiping down their table after they left, I heard the bell ring and the sound of multiple footsteps entering the building. Someone else had arrived. I silently hoped that this was a group of respectful customers and went back to wiping down the table.

Until I heard a voice I recognized.

"Please, can we get dessert, Dunkle Sans? Pretty Please?"

"Okay, sure kiddo."

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. WHY IS THE 'PLEASE' ATTRACTIVE, HUMAN?"

I gasped and spun around to look at the three that had entered. Frisk, Sans, and Papyrus were looking around the diner for a place to sit. Frisk's eyes were scanning the place in wonderment with a large smile on her face. She caught sight of me and froze for a split second before her little grin widened and she broke into a mad sprint towards me.

I dropped the rag I was holding on the table and crouched just as the child made contact with my torso. In a practiced motion, I stood up with her clinging to me and spun her in a circle, her legs flailing out.

"Yin!" She shrieked, laughing.

"Hey, FriskyBits!" I replied, giggling.

This is absolutely what I need after that nightmare.

"Shit, where did Frisk go?" I heard Sans mumble.

"LANGUAGE, BROTHER." Papyrus scolded.

I stopped spinning her and propped Frisk up on my hip as I walked over the skelebros.

"She's over here, guys," I called, catching their attention.

The concern etched into Sans' sockets melted away when he saw me.

"Hey, kiddo, whatcha doin' here." He smiled. I returned the gesture and lowered Frisk to the ground.

"Heya, Bones. I could ask you the same thing." 

His grin widened at the nickname and he shrugged,

"Oh you know, just taking Frisk and Paps out for lunch. Apparently, she's been wanting to come here for a while-" 

"WOWEE! HELLO TALL HUMAN!" Papyrus suddenly exclaimed, only just now noticing me, "I LIKE YOUR CLOTHES!"

I giggled at his ever-present childlike aura and at Sans' expression when he noticed my blue dress and apron,

"Thanks, Paps, it's my work uniform," I replied before turning back to Sans, "Somethin' wrong, Sans? Does my outfit..." I smirked. A gesture that Papyrus narrowed his eyes at and Sans grinned, knowing what was coming,

"HUMAN NO!"

"...make you uncomfortable? Is something wrong Paps?" I asked innocently.

He let out a sigh as Sans frowned, disappointment written across his skull.

"IT'S NOTHING HUMAN."

I laughed and turned sideways, holding my arm out gesturing for the group to walk forward,

"If you say so, Paps. Now if you guys will just follow me to your table, I have a skele'ton' of work to do-"

I was immediately interrupted by Sans and Frisk wheezing with laughter at both my pun and at Papyrus' loud groan of disappointment.

I giggled and walked to an empty table with Frisk and the Skelebros in tow. They sat down and I handed them some menus to look over while I tended to another table.

Unfortunately, this table was much less pleasant than my friends.

Sitting there were three preppy looking guys. They were conventionally attractive and I could tell by their phones and outfits that they weren't lacking on funds. However, the way their leader was eyeing me hungrily as I approached made any appreciation I had for their looks disappear into thin air. Regardless, I put my cheerful waitress persona on and approached them like a professional. 

"Hi! My name is Yin and I'll be your server this afternoon," I told the three, handing them each a menu, "Would you like to order some drinks to start us off?" I asked, smiling sweetly.

They exchanged a glance before the one closest to me smirked, looked me up and down, and leaned forward,

"How about I order you instead, Buttercup?"

Now. Little known fact about me: I fucking despise it when people call me Buttercup. Once in middle school, the class fuckboy called me Buttercup from the bleachers during gym class. I proceeded to press the hockey stick I was holding up to his neck and tilt his head up ever so slightly to meet my glare while, with enough venom in my voice to burn a hole through concrete, I told him that I wasn't his Buttercup and to never call me that again. He acted as if he was stepping on eggshells around me for the next week. It was great. **(This is a true fucking story.)**

So when a sleazy prick tries to use a shitty pickup line while simultaneously calling me the nickname I hate more than any other, at my own job no less, I get a little ticked off.

_Fucking Christ. Is decking this guy worth losing my job? Woah, wait. Is it even worth it at all? Jesus Yin, chill out. It doesn't matter if the guy's a douche, you can't just fucking assault him! Fuck, today has been long; I need a drink._

I inhaled and made a show of dramatically looking through a menu while I silently counted to ten in my head. Once I got to the end of the menu, I looked up at the guys who were looking at me curiously,

"Nope. Sorry, sir. Looks like I'm not on the menu." I replied smugly, giving them a sarcastic smile.

The guy that spoke to me seemed taken aback at this. Probably because he's never been turned down before. I had to suppress the urge to roll my eyes at his shocked expression.

_Ugh_.

His friends more than made up for it though. Upon both hearing my retort and seeing his expression, his friends outright laughed at him,

"Bahaha! She got you good, bro!" While one friend was busy rubbing salt in Mr. Prick's wound, the other turned to me and dramatically wiped an imaginary tear from his eye,

"That was the best thing I've seen all day, lady. Thanks. We'll have three Cokes, please." He smiled at me goofily.

I returned the smile genuinely,

"Wonderful. Thanks, hun, I'll be right back." 

I walked away feeling much brighter than I had felt approaching the table.

_What a nice turn of events. That guy was rad, I'm glad I didn't punch his friend._

After a while of alternating between the few occupied tables in the diner, serving food, taking orders, making jokes with Sans (to Papyrus' dismay), and rejecting Mr. Prick over and over again, we came to the climax of my work day.

I was in the middle of checking up on the dudebro table when I felt my ass being grabbed. The nice dudebro was in the bathroom and friend no. 1 was too far away to even be able to reach, so of course I turned to glare at Mr. Prick as I swatted his hand away.

"Hey-!" My protest was immediately interrupted.

"My name is Peter, sweetcheeks. And I would just like to ask: did you sit in sugar, because you got a sweet ass," I wrinkled my nose in disgust, but he just kept talking, "How about you come home with me tonight, sweetcheeks. I'd love to hear you moan my name." He smirked, clearly proud of himself.

_I'm just about done with this asswipe._

I made a noise of disgust,

"Never in a million years asshat. And keep your damn hands off of me."

It seemed he was just as fed up with my refusal as I was with his advances because he took that moment to stand up and grab my wrist in a strong grip, preventing my escape,

_Nevermind. I wish I had punched his friend._

"Aww, come on girlie," he pulled me closer to him and snaked a hand around my waist, making a cold shiver run down my spine, "Let's have some fun."

"Shit, Peter, chill out. This isn't cool." Friend number one looked between us, worried. At his friend's remark, Peter shot a glare behind him,

"Shut the fuck up, Trent," he turned back to me, "now where were we?"

Then, everything happened so suddenly. 

I put my free hand on Peter's chest, trying to push him away and rid myself of his strong grasp,

"Get off of me!" I panicked, a million stranger danger scenarios flashing through my head despite us being in a populated diner.

At the same time, nice dudebro stormed out of the bathroom looking angry,

"Fucking Christ, Peter! Stop!" He bellowed.

Immediately after hearing that, I felt my chest become heavy and I was yanked backwards, out of Peter's grasp by something inside of me. I flew back until I was standing just behind Sans, who had gotten up to see what all the noise was about. I grabbed his arm that had shot out in front of me protectively as he glared at Peter.

"You shouldn't have done that, you piece of shit." Sans' deep voice made me shiver. I could imagine how he willed his eyelights to disappear as he stared his opponent down.

Suddenly, a growl erupted from his throat and I immediately remembered how he growled when we were sitting on the couch. This one was different though. While that one was playful and teasing, this one was much more sinister; it held malice behind it. The sound sparked fear into me slightly, but I inwardly cringed at the fact that I still found it hot. As my cheeks warmed in response, I gripped tighter to the soft fabric of Sans' hoodie.

Not surprisingly, Prickboy didn't find it hot. In fact, upon hearing the sound, basically every inch of anger he was displaying in his posture and expression completely disappeared. 

"Let's just go, Peter," friend number one, Trent, said. He was nervously looking between Sans and Peter.

Peter's anger came back immediately, but it was directed somewhere else.

"Fuck no. Sit your ass back down, Trent. There's no way in hell I'm going to let a monster push me around. Go back to your hole you fucking abomination," he spat.

_What? How fucking dare that pea-brained piece of shit. Someone stop me before I get myself arrested. I'm gonna ffffffffffffffffffucking hell I can't even think straight because of that son of a bitch._

If Sans made any sort of reaction to that, I didn't catch it. I was too busy imploding.

His words sparked a fit of deep anger within me. My sight turned hazy at the edges and my body started trembling with anger as I glared at him. If looks could kill, all of Ebott would be completely obliterated. 

"I'm gonna rip out his tongue and feed it to him," I growled. I was too angry to unclench my jaw, so my threat came out muffled and quiet. Only Sans was close enough to hear me. Probably for the best. Wouldn't want to do anything drastic.

Before anyone could do anything, Julie burst out of the back room, looking absolutely livid.

She pointed an accusing finger at Peter,

"Get out of my diner. There is absolutely no tolerance for disrupting my customers, harassing my staff, or discrimination of any kind. You are not welcome here and I will call the police if you do not obey."

At the mention of police, Peter stormed out angrily with Trent following behind him, looking apologetically at everyone he passed.

After the door closed behind the two, it was dead silent for a few seconds before the diner let out a collective sigh of relief.

Julie clicked her tongue in annoyance before turning to me with a soft expression,

"You have the next 40 minutes off, Yin. No buts," She stated before marching back into the kitchen.

I called out a thanks before turning back to Sans.

"Hey. Thanks to you too, Bones." I smiled softly as he relaxed and shot me a lazy smile in return,

"Anytime kiddo. You okay?" He put a hand on my shoulder and spoke with a concerned edge to his words.

"I'm good-WOAH!"

Just then I was swept into a bone-crushing hug by Papyrus,

"ARE YOU OKAY, HUMAN YIN?" He asked, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

I smiled and hugged him back,

"Yep. How could I not be okay with you here, Paps?"

He pulled back to look at me, suddenly serious,

"ARE YOU SURE?"

I smiled at him reassuringly after being taken aback for a moment at his shift in mood,

"I'm sure Paps. If I was really in any danger, I would have called you and Sans for help, okay?" 

He nodded, his cheerful attitude returning,

"OKAY!"

Just as I was put down, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see none other than Peter's third friend, the nice one.

"Hey." He waved and smiled apologetically.

I felt Sans tense up beside me but smiled back to the guy anyway,

"Hey, dude." 

"Call me Will. Listen, Yin, I'm really sorry about Peter. He's not usually like that." He looked down, ashamed of his friend's actions, which I smiled softly at.

"It's not your fault, it's his, so you don't have to be sorry. I appreciate the sentiment though." 

He returned my smile for a second before turning sad again,

"I didn't know he was, you know, racist and all. I wouldn't be hanging out with the guy if I had known."

I waved off his concerns with a hand,

"I believe you, don't worry about it. Thanks, Will."

He smiled and awkwardly left when I returned talking to my friends. I spent my break sitting with them at their table,

"We need to hang out soon. It's been forever." I said suddenly, propping my head up with my arm.

Frisk jumped after a moment as if she was remembering something,

"We're planning on going to the mall soon! We should go together!"

And with that, we made plans for the four of us to hang out at the mall.


	20. Sans: The 50s And An Asshole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans doesn't acknowledge what's happening in front of his face because drama and tension

"I win!" shrieked Frisk.

Yeah, turns out the kid is really really good at checkers. Go figure.

"Now let's go already! A deal's a deal, Duncle Sans."

And that's how I ended up being dragged through the busy city by an eight-year-old and a skeleton a whole head taller than me. Honestly, even if we weren't monsters we'd be turning heads. 

Some people smiled as we passed, others turned to their friends and whispered excitedly, some completely ignored us like we were any other regular person walking down the street. Regardless of the amount of positive and neutral reactions we got, there were always bad apples. In the crowds, there were glares pointed at us as well. Sneers, grimaces, and disgusted expressions sprinkled throughout our everyday lives.

I thought back to the first night with Yin on the mountain. She had warned us about the bigots, but also about the hordes of people who would be on our side. I had been expecting the racists. I knew that humans would have a hard time accepting us. But what we didn't expect was easily the most terrifying. Yin had also warned us about fangirls; people so on our side that they become creepy and possibly dangerous. At the time I didn't know what it meant. Almost as soon as we were able to convince Yin that we would be fine and that she didn't need to dote on us, I found out why she was so worried about these fangirls. 

I had been going for a late night walk to clear my head when I heard footsteps trailing me. I looked around the empty street nervously, finding nothing but streetlamp after streetlamp illuminating my path. Not quite writing it off as me hearing things (I knew better), I picked up my pace but made no other move to show my nervousness. I mean, there was a chance someone else was also just taking a walk. 

But the footsteps didn't stop.

They got closer and faster and just as I was about to teleport away, they stopped altogether and a woman stepped out of an alley a few feet ahead of me. 

She was wearing a short red cocktail dress with a plunging neckline that showed off her long legs. Her straight black hair cascaded down her shoulders, accentuating the paleness of her skin. Her lip colour matched the deep red her tall heels were adorned in. Her strides were long and purposeful; like she knew where she was going and nothing was going to stop her.

All in all, I supposed she was objectively beautiful. The fact that she was all alone at 3 am, was dressed for a night out when I knew there were no bars or nightclubs around and had her piercing gaze set on me kinda negated that effect though. 

I could feel my soul nervously vibrating, telling me to be cautious of this woman. Yin's voice lecturing me about how dangerous it is to be a woman repeated over and over again in my head like a mantra- no. A warning.

"That means in some places I have about as much chance being attacked holding a steak in a lion's den as I do walking down the street alone in a bad neighbourhood." 

_Is this how she feels all the time? This isn't a bad neighbourhood, is it? Besides, it's not like I can't just teleport outta here if I'm actually in danger._

Still wary, I continued to walk forward, not wanting to let my paranoid self ruin a perfectly good nighttime walk. I tried to ignore her gaze.

_She's starin' cause I'm a monster. Just never seen anything like me s'all._

Unfortunately, I was wrong,

"Hello, Sans," she breathed. I resisted the urge to shudder at a stranger saying my name like that.

"Uh, hey, lady," I replied anyway, despite my soul screaming at me to teleport away.

"Oh, you're just as sexy as I thought you'd be. Mmm and that voice is really wonderful," she purred, stepping closer. She was in my personal bubble now; not quite touching, but close enough to make me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Uh... do you mind, lady?" I asked, really not wanting to have to fight a chick. Hoping she would see how awkward she was making me feel and back off. Not the case.

A sultry laugh tumbled out of her lips and she looked at me through her long eyelashes,

"Of course not, baby," she inched closer, "I'm gonna cut to the chase here Sans. I'm in love with you and I want desperately for you to fuck me."

_okAY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Who just fucking says that to someone? What is she expecting?_

She caught the grimace on my face and mistook my disgust and confusion for fear and apprehension,

"Aww, baby no need to be nervous. I know how you feel about promises and commitments since the no mercy runs so you don't have to worry about saying anything back. For now, I'd just like to feel that blue cock of yours inside of-"

I teleported away.

Fuck that noise.

I didn't tell Yin. I didn't tell anyone for that matter. Not even when Yin sent her daily check-up text. She trusted her own species about as far as she could throw them when it came to us, it seemed.

**Ping!**

I chuckled at the name she had inputted into my phone.

**'OH SHIT SHE' SENT A TEXT**

**OH SHIT SHE: Time for your check-up!**

**OH SHIT SHE: So how was your day Bones?**

**PUNMASTER: same old same old**

**PUNMASTER: how're you**

**OH SHIT SHE: Same old, huh?**

**OH SHIT SHE: Jeez, Sans. Usually, you're a better liar than that**

_How does she already know something is up?_

**PUNMASTER: whatcha talking about, kiddo?**

**OH SHIT SHE: Oh, come on Sans.**

**OH SHIT SHE: You answered right away, have never said 'same old' the last twenty straight days of me texting you daily, and you missed a million perfect punning opportunities in that first text alone.**

**OH SHIT SHE: Clearly, something happened.**

I was left a little speechless at how well she had read me. Really not wanting to worry her about the creepy fangirl thing, I made something up.

**PUNMASTER: yeah okay**

**PUNMASTER: you caught me**

**PUNMASTER: im just tired of all this political stuff**

**PUNMASTER: sick of condescending politicians**

**OH SHIT SHE: Did something happen?**

**OH SHIT SHE: Anyone, I need to beat up?**

I outright laughed at that, knowing her threat was empty. She often made those kinds of declarations and offers, whether because of habit or an attempt at humour, I didn't know. She was all bark no bite, but I appreciated it. Because it worked every time.

**PUNMASTER: no thanks, killer**

**PUNMASTER: its just more of the same bullshit**

**OH SHIT SHE: Well, if you say so.**

I was even more careful about people after that. Especially in crowds like these.

"LOOK SANS! OVER THERE!" Papyrus exclaimed, pointing out a small diner not that far ahead.

It was just a quaint white building tucked in between two other small businesses with a bright red neon sign advertising the name of the place. Best part? No technically-not-yet-illegal 'humans only' sign.

And off we went to the diner.

The inside was... thematic? It reminded me of Muffet's diner with the pastries on display and the various booths for customers to sit in. However, that's where the resemblance stopped. While Muffet's had a purple and lace aesthetic, this place was much... louder. Everything from the black and white checkered floor to the bright red cushions on the seats screamed at me in a way that actually made the place more inviting. There was chrome plating on the white tables and the edges of the barstools at the counter. The walls were decorated in black disks, old signs and posters, and a red electric guitar. On the ceiling, neon lights illuminated the space. Finally, there was a jukebox pushed into one corner of the diner quietly playing a song about cats. 

"Please, can we get dessert, Dunkle Sans? Pretty Please?" Frisk asked suddenly, seeing the pastries on display.

"Okay, sure kiddo," I couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. WHY IS THE 'PLEASE' ATTRACTIVE, HUMAN?" The only response to his question was a smile and a shrug.

Papyrus and I got to bask in the decor for 30 seconds more before I looked down only to find Frisk no longer by my side.

"Shit, where did Frisk go?" I mumbled worriedly. Toriel would have my non-existent ass if we actually lost the kid under our supervision.

"LANGUAGE, BROTHER," Papyrus chided pointedly.

I didn't bother answering with any of my usual quips in favour of scanning the room in an effort to find the kid. Luckily, my racing thoughts were quickly put to rest when a familiar voice spoke up,

"She's over here, guys,"

My attention shot up to see Yin walking towards up with Frisk perched on her hip and an amused smile on her face.

I felt the concern ebb away as I relaxed,

"Hey, kiddo, whatcha doin' here?" Yin returned my smile as she let the kid down before responding,

"Heya, Bones. I could ask you the same thing."

Despite the nickname coming out of a less than pleasant conversation, I found my grin widening, having grown a fondness for it. I shrugged,

"Oh you know, just taking Frisk and Paps out for lunch. Apparently, she's been wanting to come here for a while-"

I was interrupted by Papyrus' booming voice,

"WOWEE! HELLO TALL HUMAN!" he suddenly exclaimed, only just then noticing her, "I LIKE YOUR CLOTHES!"

My eyes flickered down to notice her outfit. She was wearing a light blue dress that- stars it was almost the same colour as my magic. She was wearing a light blue dress that fell just about mid-thigh, maybe a smidge lower. It flared out at her waist where a white apron was tied. White knee-high socks that I avoided looking at. An odd boxy hat sat on her head and really completed the outfit.

She giggled before I could comment,

"Thanks, Paps, it's my work uniform," she paused, turning back to me, "Somethin' wrong, Sans? Does my outfit..." She smirked and I immediately grinned in response.

Boy did I know a pun setup when I saw one. 

Paps did too apparently because he wasted no time voicing his complaints.

"HUMAN NO!"

"...make you uncomfortable? Is something wrong Paps?"

I deflated, disappointed. 

_There were so many puns she could have used right there! The setup was perfect and everything. Even Paps was all geared up._

Papyrus deflated too, but out of relief. He sighed,

"IT'S NOTHING HUMAN."

Yin's eyes crinkled with a mischievous delight as she laughed. Before I could think about what I could mean, she turned and held out her arm forward,

"If you say so, Paps. Now if you guys will just follow me to your table, I have a skele'ton' of work to do-"

Ah, there it is. 

Papyrus let out an overexaggerated groan.

Frisk and I burst out laughing. I hadn't even seen that one coming. Me! Sans the fucking Comic! I was so proud.

_Stars, this girl is absolutely amazing._

She giggled and continued on her way with us in tow. 

We sat in a booth that was surprisingly comfortable. The red leather of the seat provided a comfort I hadn't expected.

"Alright guys, here are your menus. I'm gonna give you a few minutes to look these over and decide what you want. Feel free to flag me down if you have any questions."

And with that, she walked away. I watched as she left; it was... fascinating to say the least. Like she had changed into a completely different person. You could see her relaxed carefree attitude melt away. Her posture straightened, her shoulders lowered, and her steps became more calculated and precise. Even her soul's humming became more resigned.

One of the guys at the table she was speaking to opened his mouth and her polite resigned demeanour almost instantly switched to one of annoyance. I raised a browbone at her forced smile.

_Man, what did that jackass say to make her switch so quickly? I almost feel bad for the guy-_

"Sans!"

Frisk's voice made me snap my attention back to our table. She was looking at me with a shit-eating grin plastered on her face,

"See something you like?"

_I'm sorry, what?_

I sputtered at her words, but before I could choke out a response, Papyrus joined in, his voice a considerate volume,

"HONESTLY SANS, STARING AT HER FROM ACROSS THE ROOM IS NO WAY TO COURT A LADY."

My face lit up,

"Paps! What- there- there's no courting! I'm not going to be courting any ladies. There aren't even any ladies around to be courted!" I protested. He gave me a knowing smile. 

_What is he doing? What does he think he knows?_

"WHY OF COURSE THERE IS DEAR BROTHER! AFTER ALL, HOW WILL YOU DEAL WITH YOUR OBVIOUS INFATUATION WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLUMSY HUMAN IF YOU DON'T COURT HER?"

_I' m s o r r y, w h a t?_

I was left making helpless letter sounds as my stuttering soul tried to form any type of response. Seriously, I sounded like a damn children's toy. 

The letter dumbass sounds like this: hnnnnnwhatthefhuuuuuuuu.

Finally, I caught up to the twin grins Papyrus and Frisk were directing at me,

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! There's no- I mean I don't- I- I don't have an infatuation with Yin!" I protested, looking like I dunked my head in a glowstick, I was sure.

Pap's and Frisk's grins grew slightly as they exchanged a meaningful glance before dropping it altogether,

"WELL OKAY THEN, MY BAD."

"Yeah, why didn't you just say so, Dunkle Sans?"

Then they turned to each other and animatedly began discussing the menu. I blinked a few times in bewilderment before slowly lowering my eyelights to the menu in my hands.

_What._

Not really able to focus on the words written on the page, I opted to stare at the pictures.

_The._

A photo of a club sandwich sat under what was probably the sandwiches section.

_Fuck._

Oh, they have blueberry pie.

And that's where my processing time ended.

_What- how- I'm- hnn. I- I don't have a crush on Yin, right? No, of course not! She's my friend! Sure she's sweet and honestly really pretty, but she's my friend and nothing more. I'm not looking for anyone anyway. Nope. Besides, even if I was attracted to Yin- which I'm not- I wouldn't have a chance with her. She knows what I did back Underground. And even if she didn't, why would she find a broken bag of bones attractive? Obviously, she'd want a partner that's mentally healthy enough to handle being around knives at the very least. Not some coward that's been scared from his past mistakes. BUT ANYWAY we're friends and it's gonna stay that way so it doesn't matter. Even if she is really-_

"Hey, Bones, why're you lookin' so 'blue'?"

She started laughing and it took me a moment to register she was making a joke.

_Stars, she just punned at me..._

__

__

_Fuckin' come on Yin! YOU'RE BEING REALLY UNHELPFUL TO MY INNER DIALOGUE RIGHT NOW._

Thankfully, it's practically instinctual for me to hear a pun and respond in kind, so I wasn't left staring at her like a total creep,

"Haha, c'mon kid, I wish you'd 'red' between the lines. Clearly, I'm feeling 'sans'sational." I was awarded by the sound of Yin laughing and Papyrus groaning exaggeratedly.

"Pfft, alright bonehead. Now, have you guys decided on what to order?"

Panicked, I looked down at the open menu and said the first thing I saw,

"Uhh, I'll have a Pancake Sandwich?"

"Mmm, good choice. Side of ketchup on that?"

I smiled,

"Is my hoodie blue?"

She giggled and rolled her eyes as she wrote down the order on her pad of paper before taking Frisk's and Papyrus' orders as well.

Afterward, everything went back to normal. No more talk about Yin and I, no more teasing, and no more internal panicking. Just puns and friendly conversation.

"-AND THEN HE USED SOME PRETTY CRUDE LANGUAGE THAT FRANKLY I DID NOT APPROVE OF, BUT HIS INTENT WAS OBVIOUS REGARDLESS. THE VILLANS WERE APPREHENDED AND WOLF FUR SCENE, THE MAN WITH THE METAL CLAWS, SAVED THE DAY!" Papyrus was telling us about a clip from a show he was watching that he really enjoyed. 

_Man, Paps is so happy up here. I hope it stays that way. The motherfucker that ruins his happiness is gonna have a bad- wait what the fuck is that?_

It was then that I noticed a loud familiar humming. It was a steady sound, not really low and grumbly, but also not high and grating either. If the sound wasn't getting louder and more frantic, it would almost sound... hopeful.

My own soul sputtered in fear at the thought. Hopeful.

_Yin!_

"Get off of me!"

My head whipped back to look at where Yin's fearful exclamation came from. I let out a growl. 

_That piece of shit._

That jackass that angered her earlier had his arm around Yin's waist, hand on her ass. His other arm had her wrist captured in a strong grasp, keeping her pinned to his body. She had her free hand on his chest, pushing him away and her soul screamed violently in fear.

I felt a deep, primal urge well up inside of me, ordering I get my shit together and interfere. Demanding I stop the painful cries of her soul; demanding I save what's mine. My friend that is. Yeah. Let's go with that.

With violently quick speed, I shot up from my seat and faced Yin and her attacker. I barely even registered the unknown voice yell before I was using my magic to wretch Yin out of that asshole's grip and into my own. I placed her protectively behind me and stared down the confused male angrily. Yin took hold of my arm for comfort and honestly, she and Paps were probably the only things stopping me from smashing that pathetic welp into the walls and floors repeatedly.

Instead, I settled for making sure he knew his place,

"You shouldn't have done that, you piece of shit," I growled, not needing to force any menace or anger into my voice. I let out a guttural, possessive growl to accentuate my point and immediately felt Yin stiffen and grip harder at my hoodie.

_I really hope you didn't find that one "adorable". You laughing at me right now wouldn't help with the whole intimidation thing right now. I mean, I don't want to scare you either, but still._

Every threatening sign in the dick's demeanour dissipated into a thinly veiled fear.

"Let's just go, Peter," His friend suggested, nervously putting a hand on "Peter's" shoulder. Smart dude. Too bad the same can't be said for "Peter". He shook off his friend's hand and all at once his anger returned tenfold,

"Fuck no. Sit your ass back down, Trent. There's no way in hell I'm going to let a monster push me around. Go back to your hole you fucking abomination," He sneered at me, an action I only rolled my eyes at. I'd heard worse. At least he wasn't trying to get into my pants.

While Peter's harsh words prompted no reaction from me, the same couldn't be said for Yin. Her soul seethed in anger; murderous intent directed at the dumbass in front of us filling the room. She started shaking and even unconsciously stepped closer to me in an almost protective manner, possessive even.

"I'm gonna rip out his tongue and feed it to him," The sudden quiet promise held so much emotion I definitely felt sorry for the other guy. Yin's voice came out barely a strained whisper through clenched teeth and I couldn't help but imagine her actually coming face to face with someone who had hurt someone close to her. Imagined Yin was badass as fuck.

Fortunately (unfortunately), before the fight could escalate further, a portly blonde haired woman burst from a door that said 'employees only'. She scanned the room angrily as she took in me, Yin, and Peter.

_Shit. She's gonna think I attacked this douche or something. Then we'll get kicked outta the diner and she might even decide to ban monsters and then the cops'll be called and everything we've been fighting for with the government will be destroyed now that 'a monster has attacked a defenceless human'-_

To my surprise, the woman raised an accusing finger and focused her glare on Peter,

"Get out of my diner. There is absolutely no tolerance for disrupting my customers, harassing my staff, or discrimination of any kind. You are not welcome here and I will call the police if you do not obey."

_Oh, thank god._

Peter huffed and stormed out of the building with his friend in tow, leaving the diner in tense silence for a few moments before, all at once, the tension dissipated. The woman turned her attention to me and Yin,

"You have the next 40 minutes off, Yin. No buts," She told her in a tone that left to room for argument before marching back through the 'employees only' door.

"Thank you, Jules!" Yin called, untensing and stepping away from my protective stance, "Hey. Thanks to you too, Bones," she smiled at me with the softest, thankful smile that could make diamonds melt if she tried hard enough. 

"Anytime kiddo. You okay?" 

"I'm good-WOAH!"

Her response was interrupted by Paps capturing her in a bone crushing (heh) hug. Orange tears pricked at the edges of his eye sockets,

"ARE YOU OKAY, HUMAN YIN?" I could tell he was barely holding it together so I was thankful when she smiled and wrapped her arms around him as well,

"Yep. How could I not be okay with you here, Paps?"

But Papyrus isn't that easily placated. He's not a child and he knows when someone's trying to calm him down. So he pulled back to seriously look Yin in the eyes, 

"ARE YOU SURE?"

She smiled softly,

"I'm sure Paps. If I was really in any danger, I would have called you and Sans for help, okay?"

Reassured, he put her down and let his cheerful smile return,

"OKAY!"

Suddenly, someone tapped Yin on the shoulder, catching her attention. I recognized him to be the third member of the asshole's table.

"Hey." He waved at her, a sheepish smile on his face. I resisted the urge to scoff. At least this jackass had half a brain to be ashamed of his friend's actions.

"Hey, dude." Replied Yin. 

"Call me Will. Listen, Yin, I'm really sorry about Peter. He's not usually like that."

_Sure. I totally believe that one._

"It's not your fault, it's his, so you don't have to be sorry. I appreciate the sentiment though," she waved him off, a soft smile on her face.

"I didn't know he was, you know, racist and all. I wouldn't be hanging out with the guy if I had known."

_Uh huh._

"I believe you, don't worry about it. Thanks, Will."

And with that, thankfully, he left. And we returned to our table with Yin in tow.


	21. Yin: Hnnn This Is Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'know let's just have some fun in the mall, shall we? Oh? Who is this?

The mall? Huge as fuck.

_Wow, there are so many fucking people here. Well I mean there aren't THAT many, but there are still too many for my liking. Jeez, where the fuck are they?_

I was walking through the food court portion of the mall looking for Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk. We had agreed on meeting there, but apparently, it's really hard to find three people in a cafeteria. The stupid room was filled enough to have me trip over myself and bump into people embarrassingly often and on top of that, all of the warm bodies in the one room was making me regret my choice of clothing. A sweater and a coat is great for the biting air of fall, but not so much for a crowded indoor room.

It wasn't until I caught sight of a familiar red scarf did my mood lift.

Papyrus was standing by the entrance with Frisk on his shoulders. I couldn't see past all the bodies, but I assumed Sans was standing beside him. Judging by how he was looking annoyed at something near his shoulder, the short skelebro had probably just told a joke. Relieved, I pulled out my phone and called Papyrus.

I watched as he pulled it out of his... scarf. Not because he was lacking pockets or anything, he had switched out his battle body for more casual clothes shortly after monsters got to the surface. In fact, his jacket had extra pockets! 

_I'll have to ask him about that later. His phone could get damaged if it falls out of his scarf._

He answered the phone.

"IMPECCABLE TIMING, HUMAN YIN! WE HAVE ARRIVED, BUT WE CAN'T SEEM TO FIND YOU." He greeted. It was then that Frisk noticed me. Her face broke out in a smile and she began furiously tapping on Papyrus' head, "PLEASE HOLD ON SMALL HUMAN! I'M ON THE PHONE WITH OUR FRIEND. SHE'S ABOUT TO TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" 

I giggled at the irony,

"Oh is that Frisk?" I asked innocently. 

She, seemingly given up on getting Papyrus' attention, leaned down to speak with Sans, presumably.

Suddenly, the PunMaster himself appeared directly in front of me, startling me.

"Hey, kid."

"YES- OH, WHERE DID SANS GO? HUMAN YIN, IT APPEARS THAT WE HAVE LOST SANS." He cried.

I glared playfully at the blue-clad skeleton before responding,

"Oh really? Maybe Frisk knows where he went."

"OH, WHAT A GOOD-" I hung up before he could finish his sentence, knowing he'd find us in no time.

"So how's it going, Bones?"

He chuckled, "Bones, huh? You're really sticking to that one, aren't you?"

I slid my phone in my pocket and shrugged, hearing Papyrus yell from across the room,

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Kinda suits you. Besides, you're hardly one to talk, you always..."

I trailed off, realizing something.

_Holy shit. I have never heard Sans say my name. He's always called me kid or kiddo. What the fuck._

Before I could voice my realization, I was pulled into a double hug with Frisk and Papyrus,

"IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU, HUMAN YIN!"

"Hi, Yin!"

"Woah! Hi!" I chuckled at how ridiculous we must have looked.

"Come on, kid, don't act so surprised. You knew this was coming," Sans chimed in, "you must have felt it 'in your bones'."

I laughed quietly as Papyrus groaned,

"SANS THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE! SHE'S A HUMAN!" He whined.

"Yeah, but she still has bones bro."

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" Exclaimed Papyrus, prompting my laughter to quiet.

"Paps put me down, I wanna show you something," I told him, grinning.

_Oh, this is gonna be great._

He did as I said reluctantly. Once my feet were on the ground, I held out my hand,

"Feel." My grin never left my face as Papyrus looked at my hand curiously before grasping it lightly,

"IT'S YOUR HAND. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO-OHMYGODARETHOSEBONES?!" 

After that fun little ordeal of explaining to Papyrus that humans have an entire skeleton inside them, which Sans looked extremely uncomfortable about by the way, we started our shopping trip. Frisk and Papyrus made sure we hit every store 'just in case', but Sans and I made sure to steer them away from the lingerie stores in an effort to protect their innocence. Don't need them asking questions nobody wants to answer. 

Once we approached a candy store, I decided I needed to do a little bit of shopping as well. I could practically see the ear-to-ear grin that was plastered on my face as I looked over the many options. Licorice, chocolate, fudge, candy corn, gummy bears, you name it. It was like a child's dream. 

Frisk also seemed to think that as she excitedly dragged Papyrus from candy to candy while he asked questions about them.

Then I turned a corner and walked into an aisle. 

One I absolutely didn't want to turn into.

Standing there, in the middle of the aisle looking at an array of assorted jelly beans, was Tristan Caborello; clingy ex and douchbag extraordinaire. 

I immediately did a 180 and spun on my heel to walk back out of the aisle undetected, but no such luck. When spinning, the rubber on my boot made a squeaking sound on the laminated floor and my cover was blown when Tristan turned his head. I tried to play it off and walk out anyway, but he recognized me, unfortunately.

"Yin?"

I sighed and spun back around,

"Tristan... it's you," I mumbled unenthusiastically. 

He smiled that stupid smile that had originally won me over. I wish I could say that I didn't know what made me like him, but I did. Something about the boyish charm thing he had going on made me weak in the knees in my younger years. Little did I know that once he has you, you go from beautiful queen to personal maid slash mom that he's allowed fuck. I resisted the urge to sneer at his attempt.

"It's so nice to see you, Yin! You look beautiful as ever." 

"Thanks. And I am also seeing you here... which is... something."

He stepped closer to me, an action that I did not appreciate,

"Listen. Things between us didn't end so well and I want to change that. Yin, I'm still in love with you."

_Had I not dealt with you for upwards of a year and a half, I might actually have believed that._

I took a step back, which he responded to by taking two steps forward.

"Oh. That's... unfortunate cause I am not. Sorry?" I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and looked down, not noticing him take another two steps forward.

"Aww, you don't have to lie to yourself, Sunshine."

"Okay... Tristan, I don't love you." my voice hardened and I took another step back, not liking the increasing amount of closeness between us.

And like a miracle sent by Satan himself, Sans rounded the corner behind me,

"Hey Yin, did you- oh. What's up." he looked between Tristan and me suspiciously.

Ignoring Sans, Tristan took another step forward,

"Oh yeah? Why not? It's not like you found someone else." He challenged.

I nervously glanced at Sans before getting an idea and waving him closer.

_Forgive me for this Sans._

"Uh, what makes you say that? Of course, I have."

This made Sans raise a browbone and Tristan to scoff.

"Really? Who?"

I stepped closer to Sans and shot him an apologetic look,

"Why who else? Sans, this is Tristan, my ex, indefinitely," I hooked our arms together and prayed that Sans' face didn't give too much away, "Tristan, meet Sans. My boyfriend." I nervously watched the gears turn in Sans' head while he put the pieces together before finally deciding to go with it and putting on a relaxed smile to hide the light blush across his cheekbones.

"That's me. Whatcha talking about?" He turned to look at Tristan harshly, "I hope you're not causing any trouble for my girl, here." For good measure, he wrapped an arm around my waist and held me protectively. My eyebrows shot up, impressed. And my face heated up just slightly, but we're not gonna talk about that.

_Wow, Sans. A+ on those acting skills, I have to say. Both threatening him and asking me if I'm okay without breaking character and rising suspicion: that's something Metta would be proud of._

Before Tristan could respond, I answered for him,

"Of course not babe," I giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl, "You're always so sweet."

Tristan narrowed his eyes at his 'competition' and let out an unamused laugh,

"Sure you're dating this bag of bones. Pfft. He's not good enough for you, even I know you wouldn't lower your standards that far."

To my surprise, Sans seemed to get genuinely annoyed and defensive about that. He tightened his grip on my waist, prompting my face to get warmer,

"What's that supposed to mean? You think you can offer her something that I can't?" 

Tristan leaned back, a smug look on his face as he gestured to his crotch,

"Well I mean, yeah. You're just a skeleton; you don't have a dick. It's not like you can satisfy her properly."

Sans' face grew even bluer as he raised an eyebrow,

"Is that what you think?" He looked away for a moment before smirking and refocusing on Tristan, who watched proudly of himself. I tilted my head in confusion, not quite sure where he was going with this, "Hate to break it to ya, bud, but you're dead wrong."

Then. Holy shit.

He let his bioluminescent tongue loll out of his mouth.

_oh no. Oh No._

Both Tristan and I froze... both for very different fucking reasons.

My eyes widened and I felt the red take over at the implications as I stared at his face. He just looked so... hot. I couldn't stop the surprised squeaking noise that escaped my lips as I stared. Images and scenarios flashed through my mind. If my face was capable of getting hotter, it would have.

_AHOHMYGODWHATTHEFUCKHOLYSHIT! Hnnnnnn oh god-that-I-oh god. He's a skeleton, why is that so hot!? He's my friend what the fuuuuck. Holy shit how do I respond to that one?_

At my involuntary noise Sans turned to look at my red, wide-eyed expression and what he said seemed to sink in. My guess? It was an impulse decision and he only had time to process his actions afterward. The only question is what drove him to suddenly be so impulsive.

Before Sans could say anything, Tristan's reason for freezing made itself known. 

To our surprise, he scoffed angrily,

"Yeah okay whatever, you have this weird blue tongue thing. But you don't have skin. Yin, how the fuck does your whole biting and hickey thing work if he's all bone?" 

If possible, my face got even redder. 

"Wha-" Before Sans could say anything about this extra personal information that Tristan just so helpfully gave him, I slapped a hand over his mouth and pointed at Tristan with the other,

"Uh uh, no way. First of all, I am not going to have a conversation about my kinks with my ex and my- secondly, this is a candy store; there are children here. Lower your voice-" 

"That's a familiar phrase." He interrupted, clearly amused by my being uncomfortable. I made a strangled sound and Sans raised a browbone at me.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed tiredly as I glared at him,

"It's irritating to know that you haven't changed at all since we were teens. Goodbye Tristan; have a nice life."

That must have clicked on some stupid switch in his brain because he immediately turned all apologetic and teary,

"No, please, I'm sorry Yin. I meant what I said; I still love you! I promise I'll be better!" 

I hooked my arm with Sans' and dragged him out of the aisle and away from Tristan. When I was certain Tristan couldn't see nor hear us, I turned to Sans who had the biggest smirk on his face.

"I see you really took charge and ended that conversation. How 'dominant' of you."

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle and crack a pun of my own, my red face pushed to the back of my mind momentarily,

"Well I mean I had to; my hands were 'tied'!" His face broke out into a grin the same time mine did.

"Oh, I agree. He really went over the line and gave away a 'sub'stancial amount of information."

I stopped and laughed at that one before retorting with one of my own,

"Right? He just 'came' out and said it." After that, we both dissolved into laughter, our previous embarrassment forgotten. 

"Heh, listen, thanks for not freaking out and just going with the whole boyfriend thing earlier. I thought it would get him to leave me alone. Sorry for dragging you into that." I apologized once we had calmed down a bit.

He shrugged and I couldn't help but notice the minuscule amount of blue blush dusted on his cheekbones,

"It's no problem. Besides, I should be the one apologizing. I wasn't thinking when I... yeah. I took it too far."

I ignored my cheeks heating up slightly and smiled at him,

"Nah. Plus Tristin took it too far on my end, so I think we're pretty even."

He returned the smile genuinely before it turned into a shit-eating grin,

"So you have a thing for biting, huh?" 

My jaw dropped in disbelief before I retaliated,

"Shut up! You have a thing for getting your spine touched, but you don't see me spilling all of your dirty little secrets."

The colour both drained from and painted his face. He went pale for a split second before turning into a blueberry; it was hilarious.

"Who told you that?!" He exclaimed, embarrassed. I burst out laughing,

"You just did."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really really sorry for my massive absence y'all! I don't even have an excuse to defend myself, I just started writing a shitton of other fics and got distracted from this one! I hope you guys can forgive me.


End file.
